“If not for LeBron James, Lakers would go 4-78”: NBA Twitter believes the Purple and Gold MVP has been that much of a difference-maker

LeBron James is the undisputed MVP of the Lakers, but would they be much worse than they currently are without him? Only just.

There’s no denial of how shameful the 2021-22 season has been for the Los Angeles Lakers. The season started with everyone questioning LeBron James and his squad’s age to the King then challenging those questions with the “we’ll see at the end of the season” attitude and now to 11th place conundrum for the same team.

It wasn’t much of a riddle for most of the people to know that this old squad will give in under the pressure of playing 82-games and if not that they will have no energy whatsoever to be their 100% percent in the playoffs.

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The 18x All-Star had so much belief in Russell Westbrook sharing his responsibilities that he gave up half of his scorers in Kyle Kuzma, KCP, and Montrezl Harrell for him. But since Brodie’s arrival, the load of responsibilities has increased even further on James, and it was just a matter of time when Father Time knocked on the door of the 37-year-old.

James twisted his ankle in a bizarre fashion in the game against the Pelicans on Sunday. And although he finished the game with 39-points, that might well be the last we see of him in the regular season. And with that, dying is the hope of the Lakers reaching the Playoffs this season.

Lakers without LeBron James! Where would the Purple and Gold team be without their King?

After that scary injury, James was out for the Lakers’ game against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, and his team clearly showed why he has to average 30-points a game at this age. They lost the game 128-110 but trailed the game by 37 points at one time. The game had no lead changes nor was it ever tied after the starting whistle.

While that will be a true belief among LeBron’s stans, that is wildly exaggerated. The Purple and Gold team has played 20 games without their MVP and has lost 14 of them. That gives us an idea, they would win at least 20-25 games without him. And let’s not forget that Brodie just last season led lottery-bound Bradley Beal’s Wizards to the Playoffs.

Furthermore, the Lakers average 108 points, 44 rebounds, 22 assists, 14 turnovers, 7 steals, and 5 blocks without him. With him on the court, they average 3 more points and 2 more assists with the rest of the numbers pretty much being the same.

They have won just 31 out of 75 games played this season and are now on the verge of missing the Play-in tournament having an equal record with the San Antonio Spurs. Even though he’s been scoring unrealistically for his age, the presence of LBJ hasn’t made a significant impact on his squad like it has on his scoring chart.

Also read: “Michael Jordan would be crying, if he rolled his ankle like LeBron James!”: NBA Twitter explodes as Lakers star puts on dominant showing despite injury