The Los Angeles Lakers’ title hopes are hopeless
Hollywood could have written a much better script for the Los Angeles Lakers to fall out of title contention, because this collapse is hardly surprising.
Not only has the Lakers collapse fit neatly into the standard champs-to-chumps narrative in the NBA (injuries, overconfidence, chemistry issues, etc.) but it also makes sense given the Lakers past underachieving seasons:
In 1986, they inexplicably lost to Ralph Sampson and the Houston Rockets (the collapse is perfectly outlined in Winner Within, Pat Riley’s best-seller).
In 2004, they were annihilated by the Detroit Pistons in 5 games even though the Lakers were heavily favored; the Kobe-Shaq partnership ended soon thereafter.
In 2013, they started the season as a super team on paper and ended the season getting swept by the San Antonio Spurs, a super team on the court.
Like in those three years, this season’s Lakers is the best team in the NBA on paper. On the court, the Lakers proved to be much less than the sum of their parts.
It is looking like this season is going in the same direction. Before I say why that is, I want to explain the Lakers impending collapse is NOT because of:
It is NOT due to the Los Angeles Lakers’ short turnaround time between last season and this one
Their final opponents, the Miami Heat, have struggled early in the season but have (somewhat) righted the ship as the season progressed.
The New York Knicks had the opposite problem (nine months off between when last season paused and this season starting) but are in the playoffs now.
Given other teams have thrived through similar adverse conditions, I cannot accept the short turnaround as a legit reason for the Lakers’ collapse.
It is NOT due to Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach Frank Vogel’s questionable rotations
Montrezl Harrell and Marc Gasol getting DNP-CD’s is mind-boggling, but allocating playing time based on individual matchups is at least a plausible explanation. Andre Drummond was supposed to get all the minutes at center anyway.
Moreover, Frank Vogel has never stepped on the court as a player for the Lakers. These issues are mainly on the players!
The short turnaround and Vogel’s questionable coaching moves do not even begin to scratch the surface on the Lakers’ deep-seated issues.
There are three clear reasons why the Lakers will not repeat as NBA Champions.