The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
Talen Horton-Tucker low-key ALMOST bailed the Los Angeles Lakers out!
THT accomplished two things in crunch time for the Lakers. One, he started getting buckets after being shut out in the first half. Two, he reduced Reggie Jackson into the inefficient point guard that turned him into an NBA journeyman.
Horton-Tucker finished with 16 points (6-9 shooting) while locking Reggie Jackson up on defense. This is the inconsistency that is driving Lakers Nation up a wall. If this guy doesn’t wait until things are dire to get started, the Lakers will be better off.
Well, look for LeBron James to mail it in real soon…Lake Show Life guess? About a couple of weeks!
Unofficially, LeBron started dogging it in the Portland loss just before the trade deadline. Now, he just looking for a narrative to go along with empty stats to cover the fact this season has been a disaster. Man, he sure had a lot to say about his future in those All-Star press conferences didn’t he?
Yes, he’s calculating his exit from the Lakers. It’s just that the Los Angeles Lakers has this thing called a contract which stipulates he will be playing through next year. But he made enough of a stink with his passive-aggressive comments that Rich Paul was called into the principal’s office to play cleanup.
"In the aftermath of LeBron James’ public comments on a possible return to Cleveland and media reports describing his agency’s displeasure with the organization, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul met with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka on Tuesday, insisting that there’s no movement underway to seek management changes and that he believes there’s a shared accountability for the franchise’s disappointing season, sources told ESPN. Paul — whose agency represents stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis — made it clear that James’ primary objective is remaining a Laker and the goal now ought to be to finish the season as strong as possible and then regroup in the offseason on ways to improve the team, sources said."
If you are obsessed with LeBron James you can stop reading now because it’s not going to be pretty.
LeBron finished with 21 points (6-17 shooting!), 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 6 turnovers. This really isn’t the production a player should put out after making snide remarks that sparks a media frenzy.
LeBron James is going after a few things for the immediate future…
- To keep that 25+ point-scoring streak going. Well, that streak is gone!
- Make a run at the scoring title.
- Just chase all-time records that mean little if the Lakers aren’t going anywhere.
This is not about the last-second shot he missed, only Stephen Curry could hit that shot shooting like he did in the All-Star game. This is about history. LeBron James is known to shut down when things get tough. He did in Cleveland (twice), in Miami and in his first year in Los Angeles.
Don’t like what you are reading? Watch what happens on Sunday when the New Orleans Pelicans come to town. By the way, they beat the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.