LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have endured the worst start to the season – they have not won a single game.
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The Lakers played the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Portland Trailblazers in the first three games and lost all three. These three games have shown the major gaps in the playbook of the Lakers, showing how poor they are in the shooting department.
To say the Lakers have struggled to put the ball into the net is an understatement. The three guards who have played this season have combined for a whopping 28% from the field. Russell Westbrook missed all his shots in the second game. There is a reason why he’s been left open, but only he does not realize it.
Even the players who’ve scored their points haven’t been effective. The leaders, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis have struggled with their shooting percentages. They’ve made up for it by surprisingly making their free throws. All of this put together has made the Lakers the worst in the league for offensive rating.
Dead last in a league that has teams like the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Rob Pelinka should be ashamed to construct a team of such caliber.
The Laker’s offense this season:
— 30th in offensive rating
— 30th in FG%
— 30th in 3P%They have the league’s 5th best defensive rating. pic.twitter.com/sZIyvvgBZR
— StatMuse (@statmuse) October 23, 2022
A LeBron James-led team now is one of the best defensive-rated teams – not the first time it has happened in his Lakers career
The 19-20 Lakers were a fun team to watch. They had their flaws, yes, but man, they were fun. The whole roster went down, and LeBron even played defense! Who knew? That cohesive nature, along with their defensive ability, put them at the top of the ratings that year. And guess what, they won a championship.
This year, they’ve started with great ratings on their side of the court. They lead the league (small sample size of 3 games played). In comparison, last year’s champions, the Golden State Warriors, rank 22nd. It is a worrisome fact, but their offense seems to always outscore their opponents.
What the Lakers have is a roadmap to success. They have one side of the field locked in. They need the other side to shore up fast. The season may look young, but in the blink of an eye, it will be All-Star season once more.
Among teams with a 3-game sample size, the best defensive rating in the NBA belongs to:
The Los Angeles Lakers. pic.twitter.com/tSY1abL8Bi
— StatMuse (@statmuse) October 24, 2022
Is the King’s reign over? Is it time to hand over the reins to another kid from Akron?
Kevin Garnett believes it is time to retire Bron and hand the reigns over to Stephen Curry. The younger Akron man has won four rings in the era of LeBron, and it only seems logical to call it his time.
Individually, the King is still the head honcho when he wants to be. But the only thing is that he has been dealt a bad hand. He has a couple of bullets, while the rest of the league seems to have straight flushes all around him. The game has evolved, and the Lakers are stuck in the past.
Even if they did the fundamentals right, we’d be talking about the Lakers being undefeated. No team has ever been top of the defensive rating but been dead last in their conference-but the Lakers are. The last three times Bron went 0-3, he missed the playoffs.
LeBron seasons starting 0-3:
2003-04 (missed the playoffs)
2004-05 (missed the playoffs)
2018-19 (missed the playoffs)
2022-23 (???) pic.twitter.com/8Uy6nfvUHN— StatMuse (@statmuse) October 24, 2022
Will it be the same this season? It’s not even been 5 games. But based on the same size, they are in a prime position to tank but don’t even have their pick for Victor Wembenyama.