The Lakers season is regular. When it seems that they are going to take off, they fall back down due to their own mistakes. The Los Angeles team has a hard time being constant in its good times and, with a record of 11-16, it occupies fourth place from the bottom of the Western Conference. 2.5 wins behind play-in already 4 of the playoffs, Darvin Ham tries to create something similar to a system, but he gets very involved with the rotations and the squad is so limited that it is very difficult to achieve positive things. The coach has shown to have ideas on both sides of the court, especially on defense, but there is not enough talent or possible rotation to become a competitive group in the long term. The best news is that LeBron James continues to produce, that Anthony Davis is at MVP level and that Russell Westbrook is experiencing some kind of redemptive resurrection as the sixth manalthough insufficient for the angelenos.
With a supine difficulty to close games again demonstrated against the Celticsone of the trends that has been repeated the most this season, in addition to one of the criticisms that the team has received the most, are the problems in the outside shot. The Lakers are the worst team of the season in shooting percentage of three under 30% and are also the fourth worst offense in the NBA. And LeBron, despite his great level near 38 years old, shoots fewer free throws than ever (4.8 attempts per night) and makes only 31.5% of his 3-point attempts. A very poor figure for a player who really likes to penetrate and create spaces to enable his teammates, but who now does not have the ideal teammates for said game system.
Former Lakers players and former LeBron teammates have been talking about the Lakers situation. One of them has been Lamar Odom, urging Anthony Davis to get into the zone and stop taking outside shots during an Angels early-season game at Crypto Arena. Channing Frye, a member of LeBron’s Cavaliers who won the ring in 2016 against the Warriors, also spoke. in sayings playoffsFrye went up to 56.5% on 3-pointers, and shot over 50% on the playoffs of the following year. The goal, according to Frye, was for them to free LeBron and Kyrie from double defenses by hitting a massive amount of 3-pointers. That was one of the main weapons of the Cavs, who beat the Warriors on their own ground and in that famous seventh game at the Oracle that is now NBA history..
Another of those who spoke was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, in statements collected in an article by ESPN in which reference is also made to those mentioned by Odom and Frye. The guard was a member of the 2020 Lakers, those who won the ring in the bubble with an essence of exterior defense that is now completely lost in the Los Angeles team. There were Danny Green, Alex Caruso or Avery Bradley (the latter was not in the bubble), all out of the Lakers today. Now a Nuggets player, Caldwell-Pope crossed paths with the LeBrons in Denver, on a visit from the purple and gold which was the fourth loss of the season for them in the first four games (110-99).
“They don’t look like a basketball team”, assured the escort. “It seems that they play impromptu. I don’t see the usual spark in LeBron. I wish I could get it back”, says the player, who wants to see the most inhuman version of his former partner again. One that we may not be able to enjoy again in the twilight of a player who has been everything, he will surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in points, but it is possible that he will not be eligible for a ring again (he has four on his account particular). And, tied to a losing project in the biggest market (he signed an extension in the summer of another two years and 97.5 million to continue in Los Angeles), it seems difficult for him to enjoy a season in which he can win the biggest prize of all. That’s how things are.
