LeBron James frankly criticized the Los Angeles Lakers in the midst of their worst series since the beginning of the season
LeBron James frankly criticized the Los Angeles Lakers in the midst of their worst series since the beginning of the season
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The Los Angeles Lakers just lost their 4th consecutive match, also their 10th defeat in 13 games since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament championship in early December.
No longer sparing words after the fourth consecutive defeat with his teammates, LeBron James frankly shared the situation of the Los Angeles Lakers after their 113-127 home loss to the Memphis Grizzlies last Saturday.
Memphis only won once in the last 5 matches before meeting the Lakers, but Ja Morant’s team was still able to defeat the yellow and purple team right in Los Angeles.
This loss pushed the LA Lakers to 11th place in the Western rankings, outside the play-in group (7th to 10th) and lost their ranking to the Golden State Warriors.
“We are a mess. We are playing extremely poorly,” LeBron James shared after scoring 32 points with 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals but the Lakers still could not win.
Reporters immediately brought up the story of winning the NBA In-Season Tournament, the first and only bright spot for the Lakers to date.
“Actually there (NBA In-Season Tournament), we went to Las Vegas and won two games. It’s simply two consecutive victories, a short period of time and not much can be said,” LeBron James said.
“Many people shared that we won the In-Season Tournament and were crowned in Las Vegas. It’s true that my teammates and I played well there and won the championship. But it was just 2 wins in 3 days, then we returned to the normal routine.”
“I’m not someone who lives in the past. Honestly, right now, the team is playing extremely poorly,” James concluded.
Different from what LeBron James shared, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham dismissed doubts about the team’s performance.
Coach Ham said it is true that the team is going through a difficult period, but the season is still long and this is only part of a marathon lasting 82 matches.
This share is somewhat positive, but it cannot hide the fact that the LA Lakers are going through a series of extremely bad games since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament championship.
Statistics show that coach Darvin Ham’s attack ranks only 23rd out of 30 teams in the NBA, while the defense, which once ranked 4th in the entire tournament, has now fallen to 12th place.
This combined into an extremely unstable performance for the Lakers in December and early January. The yellow and purple shirt team had 4 consecutive matches without winning and lost 10 of the last 13 appearances.
Most worrying is the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers do not have high results even though both LeBron James and Anthony Davis are playing at an All-Star level.
Not to mention another contract just signed last summer, Austin Reaves, also played extremely stably. Coach Darvin Ham tried to turn the situation around, but the only thing he could do was… cause chaos in the locker room.
Combined with injuries to many pillars such as Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell or Gabe Vincent, the LA Lakers have not fulfilled expectations except for winning the NBA In-Season Tournament championship.
Playing the 21st season of his career, LeBron James is averaging more than 25 points and 7 assists per game. The “king’s” 3-point success rate is reaching 40% 3PT, an extremely impressive set of indicators.
When asked how to help the Los Angeles Lakers become better, James said there will be no magic solution other than the team must unite.
“At the end of the day, there are always challenges in the NBA. The only thing I can do now is practice hard, perform thorough bandages, and correct mistakes with my teammates,” LeBron said.
“I will still set an example and act as a leader both on and off the field. Every day I will still try to be the most diligent person, hoping to transmit positive energy to the whole team towards better results.”
In their next appearance, the Los Angeles Lakers will have a match against neighbor LA Clippers at 9:30 a.m. next Monday. Then there are three matches to close the week against the Toronto Raptors (Wednesday), Phoenix Suns (Friday) and Utah Jazz (Sunday).
