Los Angeles Lakers again lose to the Magic and bad habits!

1. LeBron James was not the best player on the floor!

Here’s a quote from the last Orlando Magic post game…

"The Lakers fans are going to have to find out what they command from James. Do they want him to be a force that leads the team to victories and a playoff run, or do they want to see exciting dunks in blowouts like these?"

Last week was a blowout. This game, however, was winnable.

LeBron James finished the game with 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Statistically, he was the best player for the Lakers. But, this team needs the guy to be the best player on the floor for this team to be successful the way it is constructed…period, point-blank, next conversation.

Now to the fans that want to see highlight dunks and 30-foot jump shots, trust me I love to entertain…

LeBron takes the ball at the top does a spin move that put Jonathan Isaac in the blender and made him a Magic smoothie for the slam dunk! I would have flexed as well.

How about the shot from distance, you ask?

Sometimes you have to just shake a man’s hand and tell him, good shot on that one! But these are in the first half right?

Now let’s talk about this play here, because this is where LeBron James has to use his basketball I.Q. to lead the Lakers to an important home win.

Take a look at the situation here! The game is tied 104-104 with under a minute to go. LeBron James is on the left-wing with Aaron Gordon guarding him.

At this point, Gordon is in serious foul trouble with five fouls. One more and he is out of the game. Instead of taking the ball to the basket strong, James takes a step back 3-pointer. In other words, he bailed Aaron Gordon out.

In this situation, James has to take the ball to the basket strong and put the pressure on Gordon, the Magic and the officials to get contact and get a foul call. At the very least, break down the defense with the drive, draw Vucevic to help and Tyson Chandler will be right there to clean up the glass!

Then this…

Terrence Ross receives a pass from Augustin on the right-wing. LeBron James charges the line without discipline and Ross blows by him for the layup. This is the attention to detail that LeBron James has lacked at times during the season.

Finally, LeBron James drives and kicks the ball to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for a 3-point shot that missed. The Magic get the rebound, score and game over!

LeBron James fans are not going to like reading this, but it needs to be said. LeBron James is a wildly inconsistent free throw shooter and it may have played a part in this decision on Sunday night. The Lakers were absolutely horrific from the free throw line, missing 11, shooting only 20-for-31 on the night. LeBron led the brick brigade with five misses himself, shooting 6-of-11.

The Lakers turned the ball over 18 times in the game, which the Magic kept depositing in for points. It is something that was carried over from the ugly Jazz win on Friday night. LeBron James led the team with six turnovers.

My point?…Just let me use the quote from last time…

"These are sweet plays that will definitely be on highlight reels around the country, but he was not the best player on the floor. Sure, he was the best player on the Los Angeles Lakers roster with 22 points, four rebounds and seven assists, but the Magic had TWO players that were the best on the floor in Vucevic and Augustin. LeBron James has to come out with sustained energy…because every team is going to have the Lakers circled on their calendar. They know LeBron is coming to town which means they will be prepared. LeBron James will have to know this and adapt. Is it fair? Not really. Is it the reality? Yep."