How the Los Angeles Lakers have handled things in recent weeks has been cringe-worthy. They have provided a three-step process to ruin a team.
The Los Angeles Lakers just lost by 42 points to an Indiana Pacers team that was playing without their All-Star guard, Victor Oladipo.
It was an awful loss to a now mediocre team and it didn’t seem like the Lakers players even cared. It’s no wonder the Lakers looked so listless, the Lakers front office has just gone through a 3-step system to ruin the Purple and Gold.
Step #1: Rely on the aging Diva known as LeBron James
Before I discuss LeBron, I just want to say I really miss Kobe Bryant. Say what you want about the guy, maybe you think he was selfish or arrogant, or whatever, but the guy was the best competitor in NBA history.
Would Kobe have missed 17 games during the middle of a difficult Western Conference playoff race due to what we were led to believe was some small, random groin injury? No.
Would Kobe have derailed the season by trying to become the Lakers new de-facto GM? No.
Kobe did everything possible to win. He never would have ruined the clubhouse culture by blatantly pulling for the Lakers front office to trade for Anthony Davis.
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LeBron’s won three championships, and that’s great, but he’s got a sordid, soap opera-like history of getting coaches fired and pissing off his teammates. He left the Miami Heat in a bad situation and the Cleveland Cavaliers in ruins, but at least he brought a title to each club. It looks like his plan for the Lakers is to leave LA in middle-of-the-pack purgatory for the next three years.
I’ve been wondering for the last week why Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka, two of the sharpest basketball minds in the NBA, would be willing to make more than half the team available to the Pelicans while also taking back Solomon Hill‘s awful contract all for AD, a player who doesn’t fit well with LeBron and whose never won anything in his career.
That’s an incredibly stupid plan, but I think the reason why they feel like they have to make a trade for a second superstar now, is because they know that Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and any other max-contract player doesn’t want to play with LeBron. That is because he’s an aging diva, who thinks he knows more than everyone.
The craziest thing about this whole situation is that when LeBron was healthy the Lakers were a top-4 team in the west. They had a true identity of running, getting to the rim, and playing top-10 defense.
Why would LeBron want to trade away the young and developing core of a top-4 team in the West? It doesn’t make sense. Why didn’t LeBron just suck it up and play through his little injury? His agent, Rich Paul, said he could have played 3 weeks ago if it were the playoffs? If he had just played the Lakers would still be in the thick of the playoff race.
Everybody probably still thinks LeBron is the Lakers savior, but I’m off the LeBron train. In fact, right now he’s hurting the Lakers more than he’s helping them.