LeBron masks the Lakers issues with NBA-best 56 points in win over Warriors

The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ win:

The Los Angeles Lakers now have a choice…Play basketball or just leak sources and sound bites to stay relevant.

It doesn’t matter if the Lakers had won this game or not, this has to be said. The Lakers know they are in the play-in tournament and are setting up narratives (Also read: scapegoats) for the offseason as we speak. They will be Frank Vogel (Deserved!) and Russell Westbrook (Not deserved!)

It has been discussed ad nauseam that there is plenty of blame to go around but real life tells us that someone has to take the fall. Jeanie Buss is not selling the team, Rob Pelinka is not getting fired and the superstars are not going anywhere. But let’s break down the weak subliminal messages…press play.

Frank Vogel:

If Jason Kidd was still on this staff this year, bottom line the Lakers would have fired Frank Vogel and kept it moving. He hasn’t done a good job and his rotations have been subpar to be kind. The Lakers just don’t want to pay two coaches and they are telling you the fan this is getting blown up next month!

Russell Westbrook: 

Report from ESPN…

"The coaching staff and Westbrook have had differing visions on how best to utilize the 2017 NBA Most Valuable Player, and that has partly accounted for some tense moments between Vogel and Westbrook in the past several days, including during a Friday team film session, sources said. When asked about the possibility of Westbrook, 33, assuming a bench role, Vogel told reporters Friday afternoon: “We have discussions, just like the front office has thousands of trade discussions every deadline, and they don’t discuss every one of those. Most of them don’t come to fruition. And that’s where we’re at with Russ. Is there a path where that’s the better option? We have talked about that. We’ve talked about everything we can do with our team."

Russ finished with 20 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

The Los Angeles Lakers have three winnable games against the San Antonio Spurs, the Houston Rockets and the Washington Wizards. They have to sweep them before they take on the Phoenix Suns a week from Sunday.

This week coming up will provide clarity if the Lakers are for real or just leaked sources and sound bites. The “Ifs” should no longer be in any Lakers’ conversation for the rest of the year. They have to put it together NOW!