3 Reasons Why the Lakers Lost 60 Games This Season
By Scott Asai
The Lakers are in uncharted territory in franchise history. Passing the 60 loss total last night against the Sacramento Kings is tough to fathom. For the Lakers it’s been a downward spiral since the 2011-12 season. The Lakers don’t reach this low point without multiple bad moves over time. Although there is not enough space to list them all, here are the top 3 reasons the Lakers passed 60 losses this past season:
1. Poor Management: Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak are in charge of choosing the coaches and the players. Hiring Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni set the Lakers back light years. Brown was a nice guy, but a pushover to the players. Most of the team liked Brown, but none of them respected him. Enter Mike D’Antoni. There couldn’t have been a worse coach picked for managing egos than D’Antoni. Despite the injuries, with the talent on the roster D’Antoni severely underachieved. Players such as Pau Gasol quit on him and to this day many of his players still despise him.
2. Poor Talent: Under Brown and D’Antoni the Lakers had a decent amount of talent, but this season is by far the worst Lakers team assembled. When Jim Buss swung for the fences with LeBron James (didn’t even get a meeting with him) and Carmelo Anthony (probably a blessing in disguise he stayed in New York), Plan B was Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer. Ironically D’Antoni would have loved this roster without a true center and a bunch of guards. Byron Scott isn’t the most offensive-savvy coach, but this year’s Lakers team was incapable of winning regardless of the system. It’s amazing the Lakers were competitive most nights for 3 quarters until their opponents realized who they were playing. Coaching helps, but talent wins games in the NBA.
3. Poor Leadership: Byron Scott is not the best coach in the NBA, but he’s also not the worst. Credit him for attempting to create a winning culture and hold his players accountable for effort, hard work and professionalism in the midst of losing. Scott knew this roster was going to be terrible, so it’s only fair to judge him once he has some talent under him. The leadership spills over to the team too. Once Kobe Bryant went down, no one attempted to fill his shoes. Bryant’s style doesn’t work with all players, but there’s been a leadership void ever since his surgery. The team is made up of nice guys who like to have fun, but they lack that killer instinct and chip on their shoulder that hates losing. This offseason it’s crucial to bring in some players who lead verbally and by example.
Although hard to watch all season long, the future looks brighter. Jordan Clarkson recently has played like a Rookie of the Year Candidate. Ed Davis was been a pleasant surprise. Tarik Black showed glimpses of what he can do. Videos of Julius Randle working out inspire hope in Lakerland. Things can only get better from here with the draft and free agency ahead. This season has been one to forget. Thank God it’s almost over and hopefully we will never experience this again.