The Los Angeles Lakers came into this season regarded by many as one of the two favorites to win an NBA championship.
Unfortunately, 24 games in, L.A. looks like anything but a title contender.
The team’s 12-12 mark places them sixth in the West at the moment, behind the likes of the Los Angeles Clippers who are currently without their best player, Kawhi Leonard.
Over the summer the Lakers went out and acquired Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards. It has been a disastrous union thus far. The former league MVP ranks second in turnovers per game and has landed in the headlines for things like slapping fans, fighting with refs and snapping at reporters.
Most importantly, he simply has not been able to get on the same page with LeBron James.
This week, James was pressed on his chemistry issues with Westbrook.
“We haven’t had enough games together to know exactly what’s gonna work the best for our team long-term,” James said, per NBA insider Michael Corvo.
James also reinforced that message when asked about whether the Lakers needed to make changes ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
“It’s impossible for me to say ‘OK, when do we get to a point where we need to make a change?’ And I don’t think we even need to do that,” he said. “I love every guy that’s in this locker room, and I believe in what we’re capable of doing.
“When we get enough game reps and enough logged minutes, we’ve had guys in and out and especially me. I can’t even say how I feel at this point because I’ve been in the lineup half of games. I love what Rob and coach and the front office did to assemble this team, and we look forward to the journey ahead of us.”
The Lakers need to get it together. Whether that happens by them actually doing the three-team blockbuster trade they’ve most recently been linked to or simply playing harder, improvement needs to occur. And quickly.
If it doesn’t, this group might just go down as the most disappointing superteam in NBA history.
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