It is safe to say that the Los Angeles Lakers have not enjoyed the kind of start that the team was hoping for this season. The hope was that things would turn around once LeBron James returned from his abdominal injury but that has not been the case. The Lakers have been a mediocre basketball team.
The 13-13 Lakers currently rank 23rd in the league in Net Rating and 25th in Basketball-Reference’s Simple Rating System, which takes into account statistics like Net Rating alongside strength of schedule. Just to put it into perspective, the Lakers rank one spot ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans and one spot below the Sacramento Kings.
Every LeBron-led team has championship aspirations and anything short of a trip to the NBA Finals is a disappointment. LeBron already got ahead of the curve by telling reporters that this season presented one of the biggest challenges of his career. Now, with the team still sputtering despite the season being 30% complete, the King has turned to throwing his teammates under the bus.
That is exactly what he did after the Lakers lost to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night.
LBJ on the loss, "I had a lot of energy tonight, I tried to translate that into my teammates, but it's a 48 minute game"
— Cooper Halpern (@CooperHalpern) December 10, 2021
For the record, LeBron James finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He recorded his 100th career triple-double but also shot just 1-6 from three. LeBron certainly showed a lot of effort and was his usual self but these comments should still leave a bad taste in fans’ mouths.
LeBron James throwing his teammates under the bus is a bad sign for the Lakers.
LeBron James knows when a team is good enough to contend for a championship and when a team is not good enough to contend for a championship. When a team is not good enough, he often flexes his power over the front office and has a say in the team making moves. Look at the 2017-18 Cavaliers as a perfect example of LeBron using his influence to dictate moves.
The comments seem to indicate that LeBron is not too happy with the supporting cast around him. The problem is that this team does not have the flexibility to make any sort of moves because of the Russell Westbrook trade and how restricting it is.
It does not matter how much LeBron potentially wants change, there is not much the Lakers can do outside of a small trade for someone like Jeremy Lamb.
LeBron knows what he is doing as well. He knows how to talk to the media and how to make sure certain messages get across in the media. This is not a young player slipping up and blaming his teammates. This is LeBron directly sending a message to those that share a locker room with him.
And if LeBron has to send that message through the media then it is probably a really bad sign for the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers.