The Lakers defense can be perfectly described by one Lou Williams play against the Warriors.
For a Los Angeles Lakers team that has been struggling on the defensive end of the floor all season, Tuesday night’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors was going to be hugely problematic. However, the Lakers defense—Lou Williams in particular—wasn’t exactly making things difficult for the Warriors in the first quarter.
Sweet Lou is hardly known for his defensive abilities, but a lack of effort in transition is just inexcusable. Saying that a defense is like a “saloon door” on the perimeter is a pretty common expression, but there may have never been a more literal example of it than what Williams did on one particularl play.
Suffice it to say that Williams has a future as a matador after his NBA career is over:
For a Lakers team trying to establish a young core that includes guards like D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson, seeing this from Williams is disheartening. A player who just moved out of the way of Stephen Curry is getting minutes over the younger guys, who incidentally showed a ton of aggressiveness in effort at the start of the game against Golden State.
Next: Is The Lakers Defense Getting Any Better?
Defense is going to continue to be a struggle, but Williams and the rest of the team should at least put in effort—which would include not doing things like this.