Lakers blame game: Who deserves most blame for horrid season?

3. LeBron James

If LeBron James was not on the Los Angeles Lakers then they might have fewer than 15 wins this season. LeBron wanted to remind everyone of that fact on Saturday night when he dropped 56 points to beat one of the best teams in the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors.

There is absolutely no refuting LeBron’s impact on the team on the court as that would be outright silly. He is the best player on the floor and he still can be the best player on the planet when he really wants to be. Take Saturday night as an example.

However, he also has his hands in the pot when it comes to making roster decisions. It was him and Anthony Davis (led by LeBron, let’s be honest) who pressured the front office to make the Westbrook trade in the offseason. Then he turns around and reportedly gets upset when the Lakers don’t trade a first-round pick to flip Westbrook for John Wall.

LeBron deserves some blame for pressuring the front office but he also deserves blame for the media circus that he caused during the All-Star Break. LeBron is calculated in the media and he knew what he was doing, whether it was talking about the door not being closed for a Cleveland return or praising Sam Presti as a general manager.

He cannot say those things to the media after reports of there being tension between him and the Lakers and then play it off like the media was blowing it out of proportion when people start to question him.

This is not new. LeBron has left rosters in horrible states in the past and part of it is because of the pull he has on the front office and his insistence to go all-in on winning now and not worry so much about the future because he won’t be there anyway.