Westbrook's quote, "Everybody expects me to average 25, 15 and 15" was just unreal. The lack of awareness was just astounding. Nobody wanted you to do that. They wanted better efficiency and less turnovers. And to that, his response was, "I can turn over the ball. I can make mistakes." Nobody said you can't, dummy. People wanted you to clean up your game throughout the season and make LESS mistakes.
yeah. incredible player at his peak, largely due to his athleticism, but even then having him on your team didn't necessarily equate to winning. at this point, with his athleticism declining and his basketball IQ continuing to flatline, he's a liability. at one stage in Washington he was averaging a triple double while also maintaining a
@@RobinXlonebecause hes not as ball dominant as he was due to lebron. But everytime he had the ball he made sure to take care of it just right and turn it over 15 times per quarter
I think he's completely aware actually. He wanted to continue to promote the narrative that it's just all about how many pts/rebs/asts you average to determine how good a player is, since that's entirely what his legacy is based on.
@@XZA.B they could’ve had fuckin buddy hield. Literally Perfect fit… Instead they get Westbrook… I do not understand how people thought this would work? Now I know people weren’t expecting this bad, but I mean I feel like it was obvious this was not a good move.
I'm surprised at the amount of people who, upon hearing of the Russ trade, thought that made them the best team in the league. Westbrook hasn't been very good since OKC and hasn't been someone who one could argue would help a team win a title since KD left. When the trade happened, the first thing in my mind was "well, better get a lot of shooters around him cuz he's not gonna provide that" and then didn't provide him with much in the way of shooting or, bafflingly, defense. The idea that this team could be comparable to the Heat team of a whole decade ago is astonishing for a number of reasons, least of which the fact that the Heat were all in their primes then. I would compare this Lakers team to the 2012 Lakers with Kobe, Pau, Nash and Howard (seeing as that team also had age and injury concerns), but at least that team made the playoffs. Missing the playoffs in a play-in tournament era is bad, but particularly abysmal for a team many expected to win a title or at least contend for it.
I'm one of the many people that actually saw this coming . I said it before the trade even happens " Westbrook in L.A wouldn't work "when you know his play style and how in L.A they playing, it doesn't take a genius to understand why it's a bad idea. Making a roaster of old players that have more risque of getting injuries before important game is not a smart move and it's not the only problem... Anyway I think the problem come mainly cause of media and people hyping the Lakers when actually the team wasn't even good on paper yes big names ect but the reality is not that.
A lot of people saying “I knew they weren’t going to win the championship” aren’t Laker fans so obviously you didn’t think they’d win. Everyone thinks their team will win until they don’t.
@@depressedrocketsfan2880 Still it’s almost a known fact that LBJ is the most hated player in the league and the LAL are the most hated team in the league. Nobody had them winning but Laker fans.
@@depressedrocketsfan2880 They’re popular because of their history but let’s be realistic. Everyone called them old, everyone called LBJ washed and AD street clothes. People called Russ an inadequate piece to a winning team. Nobody thought they were going to win except Laker fans.
Lakers’ strategy against Russ in the playoffs was to literally leave him open. How did they think the spacing was gonna work when all your stars are paint scorers? Yea the fastbreak points were gonna be there but what about half court, their offense looked disgusting.
I totally agree! More people should really bring up that point because why sign a player that lakers didn’t even have to guard when they played him? That doesn’t make any sense!!
@@whocares3201 True # 1 Bad defense #2 Poor floor spacing with a lot of paint scorers. #3 Anthony Davis missed almost 50 games. Lebron James missed almost 30 games.
@@stanleyball2615 and the ones Bron did play he took 5 defensive possessions off a game basically just begging the team to take wide open threes giving them 6-9 free points minimum.
I got a taste of that when we signed Liangelo. So many of his toxic 12 year old fans just shot talked Detroit and he’s still not in the league. I couldn’t imagine being a Lakers fan before Lebron and having to deal with he and Russ’s bandwagon fans. But that liangelo ball moment gave me an idea. The delusion is strong. I have a cousin that’s a Lebron fan and all I hear are excuses.
I had no expectations with this team and still managed to be disappointed. Regardless of my loyalty/love for the Lakers- they fucking sucked this year. 😴😴
I'm not disappointed kinda the opposite cause I was expecting it, especially the fall of the Lakers fans and LeBron fans all the season talking big ect they should have stayed humble . It was pretty obvious that westbrook wasn't a great fit for the team but people are delusional thinking " oh they gonna make it work" . The Lakers have a bunch of old players with more chance to get injuries on long period for important games and people think they championship contender . The Lakers are not like the nets, when KD or Kyrie are not there their team still good.
I mean it was a fucking dream team 2.0 on paper that shit was supposed to be insane . I remember playing with that team on 2K it was lit asf . And damn they sucked so bad man reality is a BIATCH .
@@loicthiant7448 idk if you watch Dom2K but in his top 10 2K teams of all time, he had them at #1. That team was absolutely busted. I only got to play 2K11 (the greatest 2K of all time btw) but I bet 2K13 was lots of fun, especially with the Lakers. That’s actually the main team I play in 2K11 lmao.
I remember how happy they were when they signed those vet minimum players that are supposed to be good at shooting and also the former all stars that are like 40 years old now not remembering that they were vet minimums for a reason. They are inconsistent on offense and bad on defense 🤣
I knew they weren’t going far!! I mean they still had Phoenix and GS to contend with!! Plus, whoever was coming out of the East!! Now they gotta regroup and try to find themselves to a 7 seed next year 😂😂😂!
The things that messed up the Lakers was letting Alex Caruso leave via free agency,trading Kuzma And Caldwell-Pope…plus passing on Demar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, And Buddy Hield in free agency…
@@SwayzieMayne truth and 💯…correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think DeRozan would’ve fit in with the Lakers ijs…after the lakers let Caruso walk last off season im thinking this is gonna bite them big time….
@@beezy22 Very true. DeRozan's spacing, while better, is still not really threatening and he is as ball dominant as they come too. They really messed up the offseason, Russ is a stat-padder, he is not a good defender and he isn't as efficient as he was in OKC. The departure of Kuzma, KCP and Caruso really hurt them. THT isn't a good 3pt shooter, Nunn didn't play a single second and the only positives of this team are Melo who revived himself this season, the 10-day contracts of Stanley Johnson and LBJ at 37 still playing at a MVP caliber rate, despite the injuries plaguing him this season.
@@diatribeeverything if you think it wasn’t lebron and klutch that runs the lakers you’re crazy. He put together a team of his friends instead of a team that actually fits
To add contrast/comparison, the Heat were in a similar situation in the off-season (getting swept in the first round after making the Finals the prior season), but decided to keep the same core but added Lowry and PJ Tucker and a few other role players for depth. The result was they became the top seed in a tight Eastern Conference.
I feel like at some point we’re gonna have to acknowledge that AD always being hurt is a negative to his value as a true superstar. He’s obviously great when healthy but I feel like we’ve labeled guys “injury prone” for missing less games. And I think it’s not gonna be getting better as he ages in my opinion
This.. More than anything you can't have a big 3 when one of the dudes, and the youngest of the three, sits out all season.. Dudes a creampuff.. You could tell by Christmas that this team wasn't going to turn it around and basically they were unwatchable all season.. Sadly the Lakers are looking at a big overhaul that could take years to rebuild.. Get ready for some truly horrifying basketball in LA folks.
Anyone with an ounce of basketball knowledge knew putting Westbrook on a team that already had poor spacing was gonna be a catastrophe. And on top of that trading or not signing all of their best defenders. This was obviously gonna fail from the beginning, don't listen to what dumb TV talking heads have to say, of course they are gonna hype up the Lakers, they're the biggest market.
Yup, been a Laker fan for 15 years and when I saw that notification on my phone that they traded for Westbrook I was so fkn mad. Knew this shit wouldn’t work, from the jump. I convinced myself before the season started that maybe Westbrook can defer to LBJ and AD to contribute to a championship level team, but that was obviously false hope. His style of play will never win a championship. When he gets inducted to the Hall, he will be the worst NBA star in the Hall of Fame that started playing after 1980 (not counting guys like Kukoc who are in for international play).
@@page8301 "Wilt is a very goal-oriented person, and and under Alex (Hannum) he wanted to win a title and become the first center to lead the league in assists. He liked to pass to Hal Greer or myself, because we just caught it and shot it. Chet Walker usually caught the ball, took a dribble or two and then shot it - no assist for Wilt (under the assist rules of that time). So Wilt preferred to give the ball to us. - Billy Cunningham "He said in training camp that he wanted to lead the league in assists. He thought that would be cool. Of course, we all thought that would be cool too. But he didn't want us to run. He wouldn't throw outlet passes off rebounds. Only Billy or Chet were allowed to run out and score on the fastbreak if they got long rebounds. "Wilt wanted to be involved in every half-court play, so he stood there in the middle and all of us would run around him and he tried to pile up his assists. You've got to remember that assists were kept much more strictly back then. There was none of this stuff like today where you can take three dribbles and a head-fake and it counts. You got assists if you caught the pass and made the shot. So that meant Wilt would only pass it to guys who could catch and shoot -- Luke, Billy sometimes, Wali, Hal and me. In my case, he'd try to get me to just go backdoor for a layup, because he didn't trust me to do much else. And he'd never pass it to Chet Walker, because Chet always had to be pump-faking or use a dribble and take away the assist. - Matt Guokas
@@duydo6924 And? The post I quoted was and still complete and utter nonsense. Your post is not an argument for anything. It is in fact not even an argument.
@@page8301 These quotes came from Wilt's own teammates so it does hold weight. By the way, Wilt's great INDIVIDUAL stats did NOT help his TEAM. In Wilt's 7 scoring title seasons - the highest scoring numbers of his career, Wilt's teams had A 22-30 playoff record (0.423 win%) Only 1 Finals appearance (1964, lost 1-4 to Celtics) And 0 championships. Not including the 1969/70 season in which Wilt only played 12 games, in Wilt's lowest scoring seasons, the last 6 of his career, Wilt's teams had A 55-35 playoff record (0.611 win%) 4 Finals appearances (1967, 1969, 1972, 1973) And 2 championships (1967, 1972) When Wilt returned in the 1970 playoffs averaging 22 PPG, the Lakers had an 11-7 playoff record and made the Finals Including the 1970 playoffs Wilt's teams had A 66-42 playoff record (0.611 win%) And 5 Finals appearances with his no-longer detrimental high-scoring This is all proof that the only way for Wilt's teams to have success was for him to cut down on his high scoring numbers. It's no coincidence that Wilt won his very first championship in the very first season that he did not win a scoring title - 1967.
the amount of hubris youd have to have to throw out your core rotational players for a player with legitimate fit questions like westbrook is insane. i think the lakers front office/players fully bought into the idea that they can make anything work. glad to see they were humbled.
Russ has only ever cared about stats. That's just a fact. He'd rather average a triple double on a team that gets bounced in the 1st round as the no.1/no.2 option instead of winning a ring with lesser stats/importance on a team.
My favorite quote is the “healthy Nuggets roster” one where he totally forgets that MPJ and Jamal Murray are out, but no the Lakers are the team without help. Alright bro.
While Bron does obviously influence the front office and makes some decisions, the Lakers front office themselves could’ve also said no still. Like how they told Bron no to Ty Lue being the coach or whatever. He probably has less leverage here than in Cleveland since the Lakers are a large market. But yeah, idk how this got past so many people and everyone was like “yeah this is gonna work”
@@timszysteelz5907 Ty Lue would have done NOTHING to make this team better cause he's a coach... not a miracle worker... so please stop... the Clippers have basketball players... the Lakers have old farts who are all selfish and don't play defense...
@@sportschool3537 I agree with you 100% but Ty lue wouldn't have been scared to bench Russ sooner and get in his face just like how he got into lebrons face in the 2016 finals in game 7 and told him he needed more from him
@@sportschool3537 I agree with points that you made. Although, the period at which Ty Lue was in discussion to be the Lakers head coach was about two years ago. At least a season or two prior to the Westbrook trade(Pardon me if i am wrong). At that time, hiring Ty Lue would have been a good idea.
@@themaverick1898 Dude, benching RUss would have changed NOTHING... the team was just as bad without Russ... the problem is that people don't actually watch basketball and only look at box scores... Lebron's stats were empty (he scored 30 and let the other team score 50-60 in his face without even trying), AD was injured but even when he played he was literally the only guy trying to play defense 1v5, players like Melo and Dwight are has-beens and not players anymore, the young guys (Monk, Reeves etc) got tired of the toxic atmosphere that the old assholes were creating, blaming them for everything even though Lebron and his old buddies did nothing to help... That team was doomed from day 1... in my country (Greece) we have a saying... "the fish stinks from the head"... when the head (Lebron, AD, Westbrook... the leaders of the team, especially Lebron) isn't doing the right things and isn't leading by example, then the team is doomed from day 1...
As a Celtics fan that was never big on Westbrook, when I saw LA's new big three, I was like 'Wow, a team built around two guys in their thirties that have been battling injuries since they've arrived in LA and a guy on his fourth team in 4 years who's also in his thirties. This is going to be a glorious tire fire.
This lakers team just didn’t work out. You can blame Lebron for wanting Russ but at the end of the day, Pelinka and Jeanie had the authority to decline it. It’s their job to build and oversee the team, just saying. The finger pointing with this team is endless, they just need to move on to next offseason and admit that they all played a role in their own Demise.
I thought LeGM was just a joke, but to think there're actually people who wholeheartedly think he can force Rob Pelinka to make decisions is crazy. (Yes, I'm aware that he basically runs show in Ohio, but Lakers is not such an incompetent organization).
@@scipio764 He also never wanted Russ, it’s a false narrative that keeps being pushed. Russ saw the Buddy trade was about to go through before he quickly contacted his front office. He then contacted LBJ and AD, met for dinner to discuss possibly teaming up. Then went back to the wizards and hinted that he wanted to leave for LA. He also tried to convince Beal to leave the Wizards as well. This narrative that Lebron demanded for Russ or desperately wanted him is completely false and there’s reports saying such.
Lakers front office wasnt even this spineless when Kobe demanded out or hinted that he wanted to join the Clippers and was caught on tape shitting on Bynum and wanting Jason Kidd on his roster. Good thing they didn't cave in because Kidd was just a role player at that point while Bynum was on the rise and made a decent frontcourt with Gasol.
Yeah but you would expect LeBron to understand basketball, like Lakers didn’t need another paint attacker like Westbrook, what they need are shooters who can create space for LeBron and AD
Can’t be disappointed if YOU KNEW they weren’t going anywhere with that team. Don’t understand the thought process with changing the team around like they did.
I really don't understand how people thought we were going to win the title this year. Lebron was old, we knew that AD is hella injury prone, and we all know that Russell westbrook was a turnover machine. Don't even get me started on the bench players. No one should be surprised
@Kevin Green Imma have to disagree with you there. Should we maybe have kept lonzo and ingram maybe. Having young players for the future is always nice. And people really want to discredit lebon's move here just because they don't like him. Those trades got us a ring. I will say this. We're over paying Anthony Davis. There was no way we could have predicted his injury proneness would be this severe. We knew he was a bit fragile but not to this extent. And I know for a fact that those same lakers fans celebrated the hell out of that ring in 2020. Those same lakers fans thought the lakers were going to repeat at the beginning of last season
@TheRealBandito that was a botched season anyone with half a brain knows when real teams got into the bubble like Phoenix Suns what was going to happen to that team WITH LeBron and AD playing
@Kevin Green yeah Carushow KCP and all of them made the difference yet everyone yap's about LeBron now he's begging for Steph Curry to join him so people could talk about him again.. the man is supposed to be THAT GUY himself.. yet everybody wants teams to give their top-tier players to the Lakers in exchange for their bottom-of-the-barrel just so they could talk about him SMH who can't see through this bull 💩
This team is historic because it ended Westbrook's career and LeGm in one foul swoop. If the Lakers wanna stave off a rebuild they're gonna have to do some serious reworking. Pilnikia should absolutely be in the hot seat rn
Wow, those tweets..| I’m a lifelong Blazers fan, and I desperately wanted them to trade for Ariza for YEARS. Those years were 2010-2015. He was a slight, inconsistent improvement over a terrible defense in Portland, and that was three years ago. Ariza balled out for LA and Houston a decade ago. And I have LOVED watching Lakers fans drink the psychotic Koolaid on him and Baze. Seeing the PDX castoffs (on both LA teams) and especially Russ unintentionally tank a team led by LeBron and AD has been the best part of the last year.
When I saw they signed Russel Westbrook and lost some of their shooters I knew it was going to be a spacing nightmare at times, russ is historically a below average shooter but this season was god awful at times. I feel like if AD was still that big man we saw in the 2020 finals we would’ve seen a much better team but he became almost a spot up shooter that wasn’t great at shooting. If I get the specifics wrong that’s because I’m nota fan of the lakers, I’m a nets fan. Just going off what I remember and my initial thoughts
Y’all remember Kobe and Dwight Howard? The best offensive player with the best defensive player in the league? The Lakers always seem to have the most disappointing seasons. Probably because it’s a big market that attracts stars, but is poorly run, gives up all salary space and draft picks.
Even the most disappointing superteams at least made the playoffs while this Lakers team couldn't even make the play-in. Bad chemistry from the get go and it didn't help that they couldn't play together due to injuries
That media segment is crazy to me. I never knew that actual "analysts" thought the Russ trade was good, I thought that the only people who thought it was gonna work out were delusional Russ or Lakers fans.
Despite the fact that I sometimes disagree with certain things you say such as trading Herro or Butler in regards to the Miami Heat, this was 100% correct and agreed wholeheartedly. It's best to remain open minded about sports and not yell at people for their opinions such as most fans which sucks. Love your videos and honestly you are underrated as absolute hell. Hope you get to 1 mil by the end of 2022!
It's actually a really good point that fan and media expectations were way too high. The team had some obvious glaring issues with age and awkward fit between Russ and Bron. So while it's surprising they performed this badly, it shouldn't be surprising that they were not the best in the west.
I’m a Lakers fan and I was like why did they get Westbrook. The front office can’t plug and add players every year they are not the Patriots. They should have stuck with the core players from their championship run in the bubble. They would have at least gotten into the playoffs.
Problem was, Pelinka, Kurt & his stupid wife Linda, & Jeanie herself didn't want to pay Caruso when reports confirmed he was willing to stay for less but the stupid ass cheapshit owner didn't want to "overpay".
Lebron james has never ever ever ever ever been a good defender . Period . In his youth in CLE he was super athletic so that gave him an unfair edge over the competition because every time u got crossed u could recover and do like Lebum a chase down block as in those highlights back in the days . But a true defender lock shit up like Jordan Kobe and one of the great in that regard Leonard and that require discipline and skills . In MIA he played within a great team's system that higlighted some potential on the defensive end but that sucker never commited to it fully .
The 2022 Lakers are the epitome of a simple reality... a good basketball team isn't slapping superstars together. You need solid role players who are willing to get the job done... In the long NBA history, there were more superteams that flopped than the opposite.
This team was a 6-8 seed at best this season. Injuries and Russ being even worse than I expected took them out of contention completely imo. Maybe my expectations were too low but I’d put them on par with the nets this season in terms of how much worse they are than what I expected (post season performance pending). What’s really disappointing is the lack of options moving forward from here.
If the option is there the lakers have to trade LeBron and Davis This team even with healthy Bron and AD and subpar players can’t compete in the west Start the rebuild now instead of waiting 3 or 4 years being held hostage
The front office doesn't deserve so much blame, when you have old LeGM you are in a win right now mentality and throwing your future away with all out trades, its basically go to the end or go home. And LeGM has shown he can win a ring, it would be really hard to say no to him despite being the owner if he gets upset he can summon his rich paul and go on a tantrum (example AD with pelicans) AD and Westbrick have performed like they always have, only more injury prone less efficient not worth their salaries at all
I am still baffled how Rob Palinka has a job honestly. Bringing LeBron who everyone knew wanted to be close to Hollywood should not give ANYONE that much clout to stay hired. Give that man any other team, and it would become obvious very quickly how unqualified he really is.
Reggie Miller posed the question during the last Lakers-Warriors broadcast on TNT - Are the Lakers becoming like the Knicks where they're both glamorous marquee franchises that no player wants to be part of because of a dysfunctional front office? Personally, I believe in that now. They always have that exceptionalism before just because of what those teams can offer in terms of a big market and the perks of playing for those teams and in those cities, but I don't think that's the case anymore. Anyone can be a star in any NBA team, no matter the size of the market is.
I would like to add the impact the media craze plus the Lakers marketing had on the role players. These are the players who are supposed to do the work, so the stars can shine, yet you see only articles and pictures (like in the beginning of this video) with all those washed ex stars. Why would any role player on this team give 100% if you are below DeAndre Jordan in the spotlight hierarchy?! I mean I am honestly surprised that Malik Monk has never been tackled by security when he stepped foot on the court. The role players might be worse than in the previous years but I can't blame anyone to be demotivated to play with washed ex stars who shoot brick after brick and don't put any effort on defense because they were an allstar back in the day.
The warriors offically broke the spirit of the lakers on the first game of the season when they were at home lol. These are the same people that said dubs would be 8th in the west lol
From day 1 when I heard about the trade. I imagined it would be bad. But not this bad. I was thinking 5 seed. Because I thought LeBron and AD could carry the load. I didn't mention Westbrook because I have never respected this dude's game since KD left. Since his 2017 days Ive told people that you'll never be able to win with a guy like Westbrook. Westbrook has always been overrated since his MVP year. This year has proven this 10 times over in my opinion.
I wish your take on this reaches all the media in terms of first take, undisputed, espn. You create influential facts and it's deserving. Delusional keyboard warriors out there especially the ones that sacks lebums nuts hard are literally crying right now.
@@XiaoPan1987 so u telling me they would have been better off without him? Like they won 50+ games 4 years in a row and 4 finals in a row and that's a bad thing????🤨
@@iamdebaby8152 for the future of the team... Probably yes. Not saying he is a bad player, he is a bad influence on how well the team develops after 3 to 4 years.
I knew this line up wasn't going to work from the beginning. I still expected them to be like a low, like 7th or 8th seed though. But man, the implosion was way bigger than I thought it would be.
Said from the beginning that the Russ trade was stupid and we should’ve gotten DD, Buddy, or Kyle Lowery simply for the success of the team, smh.. Russ is probably the most overrated HOF ever next to C-Webb and I’ve always felt that way.
literally every team c webb went to he turned them from a lottery team to a playoff team. probably would have a ring too if those gambling refs didn't rig the kings vs lakers series in 2002. also, hall of "fame"; yea the fab 5 were pretty "famous" when he was in college. it's not just a club for nba achievements.
@@renq4842 yeah if C-Webb is a HOF? So is Rasheed Wallace, Zach Randolph, and J’Oneal. Maybe even a prime Al Horford too. None of them were ever considered the best at their position (PF) during their time. All-star players though.
Oh boy, watching all these vids about those very very bad takes from very well known "analysts" and a small portion of delusional Lakers fans is hell a fun. We're definitely keeping our energy.
@Kevin Green and its funny how they put "Lebron and AD's" Lakers on a higher pedestal and disregard any achievements made by past Lakers players. Because of their argument that "There weren't that much skilled players back then, that's why they got more rings compared to Lebron 4." Especially that dumb claim from the media and LBJ fans that Lebron will be the best Lakers player in all time.🤦🤦🤦
Honestly great video and spot on with everything👌keep up the great work Low and thank you for being an actual logical voice in the NBA community along with other because the stuff I hear and see people say just make lose brain cells💀
Huge Westbrook fan but I totally agree with everything said in the video. I knew this team wouldn't work but I still had them making a top 4 seed. Crazy and hope to see Westbrook in a better situation and off the bench next season.
Lebron actually deserves 60% of the blame!! I dont care what he does on offense because he plays ZERO defense and thats a major problem being the leader of the team because they follow his lead! And he didnt just “ok” the roster he designed it! It was his idea to bring Westbrick to the lakers. Rob had another trade ready to make to acquire Buddy Hield and Lebron killed it in favor of the Westbrook deal. For these reasons Lebron needs to own the lions share of the blame for the Lakers failure.
As LoW said in the video, if that’s the case than Jeanie Buss might as well give LeBron the official/proper title of GM; since you need to be able to stand firm and say “no” (like Pat Riley with the Heat).
I'm really glad you highlighted that quote from Russ about how he thought the reason people were critiquing him was the lack of triple-doubles. That was the one for me that like, made it clear that this was a guy who's never gonna be a championship-winning type of player, just total lack of self-awareness
I never liked westbrick I been saying for yrs he overrated just stat chaser...he put up empty stats in okc just like Kevin love did in Minnesota(nit saying he overrated but at the time his hype was)...westbrick needs to come off bench and be the spark plug...but any team willing to trade for him must be desperate for attendance or lakers must be giving them ton of pics...
I was in basic and my drill sgt told me about the trade as soon as I heard it I knew it was gonna be bad I didn’t feel confident in Russ and Lebron sharing minutes together they are both ball dominate players and Russ is horrible off the ball
No, the front office bears that responsiblity. Whether Lebron signed off on roster construction or not, whether he helped put the team together or not, he is still just a player and doesn't actually have the power to make any signings. I'm so confused by people want to let the front office, the ones whose literal job it is to put the team together, off the hook and blame Lebron for it.
This reminds me of that cavs mid season trade in 2018, I tried to tell ALL my friends it was a bad trade, and they all claimed no, they are young guys, they will want to play with Lebron, they won the trade, and I get that this team had some skilled guys who have aged and we thought they’d all get the motivation to step it up, especially the ringless stars like melo. But I am SOOOOO glad this collapsed like I thought it would
Nothing like that team bud. That team made the playoffs in a tougher western conference, and could have potentially stirred the pot towards the end of the season if Kobe didn’t go down with that Achilles injury that ruined his career. The 21-22’ Lakers are FAR more disappointing than that team. Nash was out of his prime as a 38 year old, Russ is only THIRTY THREE coming off a supposedly ‘great’ season in Washington. The 1-2 punch with LBJ and AD is better than the 1-2 punch of Kobe in his 17th season and Dwight w/ back spasms (even tho AD can’t stay healthy either). 12-13’ Lakers are amazing compared to this monstrosity of a team.
LeBron wasn't going to give this team another championship just like his big 3 in Miami? Plus Dwight and Nash team up with Kobe didn't work just like LeBron team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami! I just have a funny feeling this Lakers team is going to die again of rebuilding.
Maybe after this the lakers will stop letting LeGM make all their decisions for them. Lebron is the reason why all this happen, he demanded them to get AD then when he couldn't win a 2nd time he demanded another star. Sucks Frank led this team to a title only 2 years ago then got thrown under the bus to save Lebron.
LeGM had a hand in selecting the team in Miami - four straight finals appearances and two rings. LeGM selected Love in Cleveland - four straight finals appearances, one ring and another ring if everyone is healthy in 15’. LeGM selected AD - won a title the very next season. Lebron is 9-12, no other player has had that kind of consistency helping their front office. People are letting this season and last season fool them into thinking Lebron makes bad decisions while helping the front office. I’ll also add Lebron wanted Caruso, LA chose THT over him. He also never demanded they trade for Russ (that’s completely false) Russ came to them after he saw the Buddy trade. LBJ, Russ and AD talked over dinner, talked to their respective front offices and the deal was done. But he never DEMANDED for Russ, that’s a false narrative ran by LBJ haters to give him more responsibility then what actually happened. It was actually Westbrook who pleaded to be on the Lakers.
does casual NBA fans beat those NBA analysts? I mean many non NBA analyst and fans are worried about that roster since its an aging one, and good luck if they can even be healthy throughout the season.. many are saying they will not win a championship due to those said factors... but if there is one thing, many didn't predict is that they will not even make it in the play offs, and more over the play in tourney. thats what those media gets from just looking at the names of roster rather than the other factors that could affect the team
As a non-delusional LeBron fan and Lakers fan, I knew we were screwed when we traded for Westbrook. But even I didn't anticipate the season to be this bad.
when everyone hyped this team up i knew the whole time they weren't gonna be good. But Lebron surprised me with his performance at age 36 and Westrbook surprised me with his poor performance. AD cant even stay healthy and Lebron only played 12 more games than AD. it was honestly just a disappointing season all together. and they got worse than last year after losing curuso, Pope, and Kuz who was sometimes a clown. This team needs to trade all 3 stars and just hit the reset button because they arent winning any time soon.
