LeBron James has not had the dream start with the iconic Los Angeles Lakers franchise, and the basketball universe is brimming with second(third, fourth ..) thoughts.
Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball and co. teamed up to make the Los Angeles Lakers the best transition scoring team in the league last season (23.4 points per game). What made it special was that they beat the NBA finalist Golden State Warriors(23.3) and Cleveland Cavaliers (21.3) on their way to the top.
Although they ended up with a 35-47 record, the youngsters had set themselves for imminent success.
Magic Johnson helped by adding one of the greatest players of all-time in LeBron James to the roster during the summer. Throw in a bunch of veterans as well, and the stage was set. The hippest basketball city had met the most celebrated basketball stars across the league.
Sadly, however, the fairy tale hasn’t unfolded the way all of us have wanted it to. It’s more of a bumpy ride as of now, and the supporters are getting restless.
‘Kawhi joined the Raptors, HE doesn’t seem to have a problem acclimatizing’ is the argument being slapped on the faces of the LeBron-defenders.
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Up until this point in the season, they just cracked the .500 mark for the first time with a victory over the Atlanta Hawks. However, the tough start is not a good sign in a conference where making it to the playoffs is considered an achievement in itself.
The 8-team window gets tighter and tighter with every passing year and the Lakers do not look like they’re catching up with the Western grind in the remotest way visible.
They share the Pacific division with the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns & the mighty Warriors (hence the title of this piece). Looking at the in-sync mechanics and well-oiled cogwheels of the Warriors apparatus lately, the rest of the four teams can only gun for silver in the division.
Yes, the men in purple-n-gold have beat the Nuggets (one of the top 5 defenses) and recently the Timberwolves, but they are yet to inspire confidence in terms of their consistency.
All of their first three losses of the season were of single-digit deficits (including the 1-point heartbreaker versus the Spurs) so I give them the benefit of bad luck. But, what’s Unforgiven is the bad transition defense that has often led to the oppositions digging into double-digit leads and the subsequent trauma that comes with it in the dying minutes of the game.
The Lakers’ 5-time NBA champion President of Basketball Operations had to step in when the Lakers were grazing the bottom of the defensive well in the league. Though when asked about Luke Walton‘s job security, he had this to say:
"“He is going to finish the season, unless something drastic happens, which it won’t,”"
Ironically, the Los Angeles Lakers have a better offensive rating when The Kid from Akron is off the court than on it. Their defensive rating also improves with James on the bench.
I don’t want to know what that means. The best player on the planet is not able to help towards the betterment of an already talent-stuffed young core he just joined.
God help LA!!