Lakers Imploding

#91
This Laker team just isn't good enough for Lebron to "coast" in the regular season and make it into the playoffs. Putting that in quotation marks because he's averaging 27ppg 8.1apg 8.7rpg 1.4spg. I think Lebron might have to go into **** it mode and drag them into the playoffs. However, is it worth it for 34 yearold Lebron to put his entire body on the line just for Rondo-Kuzma-Ingram-Ball-McGee-Chandler-Stephenson? I don't think so... especially if all he'll get is a 1st or 2nd round exit if he's lucky.

However, people shouldn't seriously underrate the Laker's playoff run. Lebron has carried much worse...
I think they're going to shut LeBron down if they lose the next few games and fall out of contention. He's only 40 points away from surpassing Jordan on the all time scoring list so I know he'll want to at least hit that milestone before bowing out.
 
#92
I think they're going to shut LeBron down if they lose the next few games and fall out of contention. He's only 40 points away from surpassing Jordan on the all time scoring list so I know he'll want to at least hit that milestone before bowing out.
There's no way they shut down Lebron this early. They're still only 4 games back from 8th seed and both the Spurs and Kings have been losing lately
 
#93
That stat ladder was some people goat ****ing embarrassing, meanwhile Kevin love is back to being a good player when he’s not regulated to 3point specialist by the fake goat
 
#96
This Laker team just isn't good enough for Lebron to "coast" in the regular season and make it into the playoffs. Putting that in quotation marks because he's averaging 27ppg 8.1apg 8.7rpg 1.4spg. I think Lebron might have to go into **** it mode and drag them into the playoffs. However, is it worth it for 34 yearold Lebron to put his entire body on the line just for Rondo-Kuzma-Ingram-Ball-McGee-Chandler-Stephenson? I don't think so... especially if all he'll get is a 1st or 2nd round exit if he's lucky.

However, people shouldn't seriously underrate the Laker's playoff run. Lebron has carried much worse...
Orly?
 
#98
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/nba-rumors-lakers-expected-dismiss-012146012.html

Wonder who LeBron’s next patsy will be?

Will be interesting to see what Walton does next. I don’t count his GS run because a rock in a suit could have coached that team to wins, then he did well enough last year with the Lakers young talent, before bottoming out with LeBron.
I like Walton and if Sean Miller gets pushed out at Arizona I'd like to see him try to right the ship. Miller's 2019 class is a monster though, so I'm guessing he'll get through it.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
Eh, I don't know, man. Based on what I heard to be the severity of the injuries, it doesn't sound like "tanking" was exactly a choice. Like I've said in the past, it's not tanking if you're just plain bad.
 
Ingram has a blood clot and will need to go on meds. Lonzo's ankle sprain seems to be severe. At this point in his career, I think it would be fair to call him injury prone.

Make no mistake, a healthy Laker squad would've made the playoffs. Up until Lebron's injury, they were 20-14.
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
Ingram has a blood clot and will need to go on meds. Lonzo's ankle sprain seems to be severe. At this point in his career, I think it would be fair to call him injury prone.

Make no mistake, a healthy Laker squad would've made the playoffs. Up until Lebron's injury, they were 20-14.
They haven't exactly been great since Lebron's come back though either
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude

Who'd have thought that after one particularly fateful offseason Vlade would be the former Laker helping to restore glory to his former team (The Kings) and Magic would be the former Lakers great bumbling his way through the league and being dumb and making his franchise a complete and total laughing stock?
 
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Who'd have thought that after one particularly fateful offseason Vlade would be the former Laker helping to restore glory to his former team (That Kings) and Magic would be the former Lakers great bumbling his way through the league and being dumb and making his franchise a complete and total laughing stock?
Luke Walton's staff vs. LeBron's front office.

Poor Luke.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
Luke Walton's staff vs. LeBron's front office.

Poor Luke.
  1. "LeBron's front office"? Everybody in the gd lakers' front office was there before LeBron James got there.
  2. "Poor Luke"? Man, **** Luke. When did we stop admitting that Walton is overrated as hell, as a head coach? Is LeBron really so polarizing, that people started caping for that guy?
 
  1. "LeBron's front office"? Everybody in the gd lakers' front office was there before LeBron James got there.
  2. "Poor Luke"? Man, **** Luke. When did we stop admitting that Walton is overrated as hell, as a head coach? Is LeBron really so polarizing, that people started caping for that guy?
They went with flashy has been names to build excitement around LeBron rather than continue building on what was working the year prior. I think LeBron had a hand in that, if you don't, well that's also a fair opinion to have.

I like Luke. I am a big Arizona Wildcats fan. I like his dad. I went to his dad's basketball camp and hung out with Luke's brother as a kid. I know he's a Laker but his time with them is up and if Miller's days are numbered in Arizona I'd welcome Luke back to the fold.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
  1. "LeBron's front office"? Everybody in the gd lakers' front office was there before LeBron James got there.
  2. "Poor Luke"? Man, **** Luke. When did we stop admitting that Walton is overrated as hell, as a head coach? Is LeBron really so polarizing, that people started caping for that guy?
LBJ has a management role at the Lakers. Trades, FA acquisitions, coaching, concessions, parking, whatever he wants he gets. It's just not spelled out in his contract. He was integrally involved in the Anthony Davis fiasco, as was his agent. He will be integrally involved in any Laker FA target going forward, any trade going forward, any new coach going forward. It's his quasi-GM role that contributed so greatly to the poor morale of his team. He wasn't just another player that was sticking with his teammates - he was the teammate/quasi GM who was advocating for a trade to send them packing.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
They went with flashy has been names to build excitement around LeBron rather than continue building on what was working the year prior. I think LeBron had a hand in that, if you don't, well that's also a fair opinion to have.
They picked the has-beens they did, for a specific reason, but it wasn't to be "flashy." They made a gamble, and went bust, in a big way; the gamble being that surrounding LeBron James with a bunch of ball-handlers would somehow make it easier for him than surrounding him with guys who can shoot. I don't know why they thought that, but it's clear to me that that's what they thought. I think that they'd be in a lot better shape right now, had they opted to keep Brook Lopez over signing JaVale McGee, but I'll stipulate to sleeping on Lopez, myself; I thought that, with the way he played for basically his entire career, that the game had passed him by, and I was not willing to believe that he was capable of re-inventing himself in the way he has at this stage of his career. But, Julius Randle was gone, regardless; he had already made up his mind that he was leaving Los Angeles, no matter what, and LeBron didn't have anything to do with that. Without Randle, any plans to "continue building on what was working the year prior" weren't going to work, because what was "working" was a system where Randle was the workhorse/glue guy of the team.

I like Luke. I am a big Arizona Wildcats fan. I like his dad. I went to his dad's basketball camp and hung out with Luke's brother as a kid.
That's cool, and everything but, objectively, Luke Walton is a mediocre-to-bad NBA head coach. And everyone agreed on that, until LeBron got there. Now people are trying to say that LeBron is trying to get him fired which, maybe he is, and maybe he isn't, but I still haven't heard an actual argument for why Luke Walton should get to keep his job. That bugs me. I dunno... maybe he'll be better in college; some guys aren't cut out to coach professionals.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
LBJ has a management role at the Lakers. Trades, FA acquisitions, coaching, concessions, parking, whatever he wants he gets. It's just not spelled out in his contract. He was integrally involved in the Anthony Davis fiasco, as was his agent. He will be integrally involved in any Laker FA target going forward, any trade going forward, any new coach going forward. It's his quasi-GM role that contributed so greatly to the poor morale of his team. He wasn't just another player that was sticking with his teammates - he was the teammate/quasi GM who was advocating for a trade to send them packing.
Let's stipulate, for the sake of argument, that I agreed with you. That doesn't change the fact that Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are not LeBron's guys: they're Jeannie Buss' guys. It's not "LeBron's front office," it's hers. And, if we're keeping it a buck, if I'm LeBron James, and the GM tells me that they're trying to get Anthony Davis, I'm telling him to move any and everybody they have to but me, to make that happen, and I'm not going to lose a wink of sleep about whose feelings get hurt over that.
 
That's cool, and everything but, objectively, Luke Walton is a mediocre-to-bad NBA head coach.
It feels like he over-achieved with the Lakers last season after taking over a mess and the only other thing we have is that he did very well running the Warriors (yeah yeah) in Kerr's absence, though he arrived at the same time Kerr did so perhaps he also helped those first two years more than he'll ever get credit for. I don't think there is any fair book on him at this point. Would I want him coaching the Kings at this stage? Pass. Would I prefer Miller gets to coach his top recruited class in 2019 at Zona? Yes. But I think he's getting a raw deal in this saga and I hope he rebounds some place else, far, far away from LA.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Let's stipulate, for the sake of argument, that I agreed with you. That doesn't change the fact that Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are not LeBron's guys: they're Jeannie Buss' guys. It's not "LeBron's front office," it's hers. And, if we're keeping it a buck, if I'm LeBron James, and the GM tells me that they're trying to get Anthony Davis, I'm telling him to move any and everybody they have to but me, to make that happen, and I'm not going to lose a wink of sleep about whose feelings get hurt over that.
For all intent and purposes, it is LBJ's front office, until ownership/management determine otherwise. I don't think you understand to what extent LBJ has captured the Laker's front office. What his teammates seem to know, but you don't, is that LBJ is the guy who not only went along with the idea of an AD trade, but initiated it. As far as your last sentence is concerned, I'm sure that LBJ's teammates agree with you.
 

Mr. S£im Citrus

Doryphore of KingsFans.com
Staff member
For all intent and purposes, it is LBJ's front office, until ownership/management determine otherwise. I don't think you understand to what extent LBJ has captured the Laker's front office.
It's not a question of understanding, it's a question of belief. I don't believe you.

What his teammates seem to know, but you don't...
What his teammates "seem" to know... Well, hell, I guess there you have it. Who can refute an argument that strong? You sure you don't want to throw in a "Many people are saying...", while you're at it?