Los Angeles Lakers Mid-Season Grades: Tank-A-Thon!

MVP: Kobe Bryant. Sorry folks, but those of you clamoring that the Lakers were better off without Bryant early in this season have been shut up. Since going down for the season, the Lakers are 1-9. In games he’s missed, they’re 3-15.

Plain and simple, Bryant is (or was) the best player for the Lakers this year. He may not have been efficient, but he was also asked to do an enormous amount for a player in his 19th season.It’s a shame he broke down again, likely due to mismanagement, but that’s another story for another day.

LVP: There’s multiple ways to look at this. If you want to talk about least valuable player relative to expectations or talent level, I’d imagine Jeremy Lin would be the logical choice. If you want to talk about from a pure talent level, Robert Sacre is probably your guy.

But my vote for the player who has been least valuable to the Lakers is Ronnie Price. Now strapped to the bench, Price has offered little to the team this year. His acquisition by the team late in the off-season was seen as a security blanket in case of injuries, but his inclusion in the starting lineup was befuddling, especially given how bad he was.

Stat of the Season To-Date: 111.2. The Lakers defensive rating, which stands as an estimate of points given up per 100 possessions. That rate is second worst in the league, just 0.3 off the Timberwolves for dead last. The Lakers have lots of problems this year, but most of them seem to center around their beyond lackluster defense.

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