A Laker Let Down

LOS ANGELES – Ever since the Lakers’ dominant bubble season in 2020 where they won the NBA Finals, they have struggled to find ways to win.

It looked as if another Lakers dynasty was among us in 2018 once they signed the best player in basketball, LeBron James, to a 4 year $153.3 million contract during the offseason. That year the Lakers finished with a losing record and decided to go after more of the NBA’s top talent during the upcoming offseason.

In 2019, the Lakers engaged in a three-team trade that landed them star forward/center Anthony Davis. In exchange, they traded away Lonzo Ball, Isaac Bonga, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Jemerrio Jones, Moe Wagner, the draft rights to De’Andre Hunter, a conditional 2022 1st round pick (LAL own), a 2022 2nd round pick (LAL own), a Swap 2023 1st round picks, a 2024 1st round pick (LAL own) and cash.

In just their first season together, LeBron and Anthony Davis were able to win the NBA Finals and it seemed as if this was the start of something big.

The year proceeding their championship they went a disappointing 42-30 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. A huge part of this was due to Anthony Davis’ injury-plagued season that limited his play week after week.

During the 2021 offseason, the Lakers sought even more help and made a trade that sent Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and the 22nd overall pick of the 2021 Draft to the Wizards in exchange for former MVP, Russell Westbrook.

This is when things started to really go downhill…the next season they went 33-49, missing the playoffs entirely, and now with a new head coach this season, Darvin Ham, who replaced Frank Vogel, things haven’t seemed to change.

The Lakers are currently 5-11 and you can properly attribute that to a weak supporting cast. The bright spots for this Lakers team include the players that you would expect. Anthony Davis, who has only missed one game this season, leads the team in four out of the five main statistical categories. Davis is averaging 26.4 points, 12.6 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 2.1 blocks per game.

James follows closely behind with 24.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. Westbrook, who has recently been having some of the worst seasons of his career, is averaging 15.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per game coming off the bench.

Last night, the Lakers took a 115-105 loss to the Mikal Bridges’ led Suns. Despite the loss, Anthony Davis looked as if he returned to his pre-injuries self, scoring 37 points and grabbing 21 rebounds…a historic performance. Anthony Davis is the only player ever to have 35+ PTS, 20+ REB, 5+ STL, and 4+ BLK in a single game since blocks and steals were first officially recorded in 1973.

In his past four games including last night, he has scored 30+ along with 15+ rebounds. The Lakers hope to turn things around and make a run to put them in a playoff position amidst a very competitive Western Conference.