Los Angeles Lakers lose twice, the game and Lonzo Ball
By Ronald Agers
1. Uh, LeBron James just wasn’t that good
I usually don’t rely on the plus/minus stat because it’s an analytical term that doesn’t always tell the story. But, I’ll use it to make a point. LeBron James was the worst player on the floor with a -23. He missed his first left-hand lay-up and the night pretty much went downhill from there.
LeBron James scored 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting and missed all four of his 3-point shots. He did grab seven rebounds and dished out two assists and had two steals.
His in the Christmas giving mood of turning the ball over to the other team is still in full effect. James turned the ball over four times in the game. With the Lakers point guards dropping like flies at this point, and LeBron’s insistence on handling the ball, (Does anyone remember when he was supposed to play off the ball?), these performances have to stop.
As for the Lakers fans, you might want to get used to nights like these if LeBron James does not come out with energy and set the tone. Here’s a question that I proposed to Lakers fans…
"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?"
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1067613994960084992
Because, mark my words, when the Los Angeles Lakers play the strong contenders of the Western Conference and they bring their disciplined systems in to wear the Lakers down, LeBron is known to check out and do things like this…
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1067614424415027200
The only thing is that he was lucky enough to have the young guns, Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball, to bail him out. Sweet play by Kuzma and Lonzo Ball has some sneaky hops!
LeBron James has a responsibility to the franchise to come out and play hard every game! He did not in this game and the Lakers got smoked like a pack of Kools. There’s no excuse here.
Stars play like stars every game! They don’t always shoot well, but they do other things to impact games. LeBron James has checked out of numerous games this season and come up short in others. If this keeps up, other fans will start to notice that is if they haven’t already!
I’ll finish with this.
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. Last night the Lakers and LeBron James obviously were not!
LeBron James will have to know this and adapt. Is it fair? Not really. Is it the reality? Yep.