The Los Angeles Lakers have won three of four, so it might feel like an odd time to talk with a concerned tone. Keep in mind, though, the Lakers’ three victories came against losing teams in the Memphis Grizzlies (twice) and Sacramento Kings, whereas their loss was to the Detroit Pistons.
It wasn't a nail-biter against Detroit, either. The Lakers lost by 22 points, which continued a worrying trend: Los Angeles has suffered all of its 11 losses this season by double digits. This is a troublesome stat that points to deeper problems with a Luka Doncic and LeBron James-led basketball team.
Indeed, despite a 22-11 record on the season, the Lakers have underlying issues that any fan can easily sniff out, and it all starts with LA’s half-hearted effort on defense most nights.
Head coach JJ Redick has done his fair share of venting to the media about it. Fans and analysts alike have consistently criticized the Lakers' defense, with Doncic justifiably receiving a lot of flak in recent days for his contributions to the anti-defense culture.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much of a solution in sight for the Lakers in this regard. For all the wonderful things that Luka brings to a team, his Achilles heel as a player is that he sometimes allows his emotions to take the steering wheel, and his defensive effort is always the first casualty (with turnovers being the second).
This issue is compounded by the fact that James is 41 years old and — on many nights — doesn’t have the capacity to play hard on defense. There’s not much you can criticize LeBron for here, but it doesn’t change the reality of the situation.
This isn’t just an eye-test conclusion about the Lakers, by the way. Yahoo’s Kevin O’Connor recently pointed out that LA's double-digit losses are actually a trademark of Luka and LeBron in recent seasons.
Troubling Luka Doncic-LeBron James habit is bad news for Lakers
On a recent episode of The Kevin O’Connor Show, O’Connor pointed out that whenever Luka loses games in the NBA, he tends to lose big.
In the 2023-24 season, Luka’s Dallas Mavericks lost 32 games, but 21 of those losses were by double digits. Last year, after trading for Luka, the Lakers lost 13 games, but eight of them were by double digits, per O’Connor.
Over the last two and a half years, 61 percent of Luka’s losses have been by double digits. It gets weirder still for the Lakers.
Per O’Connor, “Over this time span — (the) last two and a half years — there have been 19 players that were named to an All-Star team and have won 60 percent of the games in which they played. Luka is second among those 19 players in games lost by double digits ... second only to LeBron James ... (who) has lost 73 percent of his games by double digits.”
So, what does it all mean? After all, a loss is a loss, regardless of how many points you lose by. That’s a fair rebuttal, but it’s still odd that players of Luka and LeBron’s caliber are so prone to losing big.
It speaks to the mentality that both of these guys exude at this point in their careers. Weirdly, a 26-year-old Doncic and a 41-year-old James are similar in that they tend to roll over and waive the white flag on certain nights when things just aren’t working out.
When a loss feels certain, they don’t continue fighting. They check out.
Again, Luka and LeBron shouldn’t be attacked too severely for this shared habit. They both do so much to help the Lakers win, and that’s what matters.
Still, you have to think that the roll-over-and-die attitude on certain nights affects the rest of the Lakers. Their teammates don’t have the legendary talent that allows a player like Doncic or James to harbor such a poisonous habit and carry on largely unharmed.
The Lakers were wise to bring in a guy like Marcus Smart, whose mentality works against everything negative about Luka and LeBron’s mindset. If the Dillon Brooks rumors are true, that would be another smart addition for the same reason.
For now, the Lakers better hope that their talent outweighs their mentality when the postseason rolls around. History suggests that it absolutely won’t, though.