It’s been tough sledding the Lakers the past week as they lost three straight games by lopsided scores, but they got back in the win column last night by handling the Kings 125-101. At 20-10, they’re still outperforming preseason expectations, though their recent skid and propensity to get blown out in losses is causing some concern about their viability as a real contender.
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The Lakers have had to navigate injuries to all of their best players this year. LeBron James missed the first 15 games of the season with sciatica. Luka Doncic has missed seven games with various ailments, as has Austin Reaves, who’s now set to miss at least another month with a calf strain.
Head coach JJ Redick has had to make it all work while rarely fielding his best roster, but when you’re the Lakers, not only are outside observers not willing to make excuses for you, they’re also anxious to see your demise. That’s especially true if you’re a Celtics legend like Paul Pierce.
Pierce was talking about the Lakers on the most recent episode of his No Fouls Given podcast, and unsurprisingly, he didn’t have many good things to say about them. He criticized the front office for poorly constructing the roster, and he pointed to a lack of defense and athleticism.
Those are all fair points to make, but Pierce took it a step too far when he put most of the blame for the Lakers’ woes at LeBron’s feet. First, he damned him with faint praise by saying, “He’s somewhat still athletic,” then he blamed LeBron for upsetting team chemistry since he returned.
“It’s not a good mix,” he said. “I saw this when LeBron was out the lineup. They had some chemistry going actually, between Reaves and Luka, and then I was like, ‘This ain’t gonna look right with Bron standing in the corner or just out on the wing looking for the ball,’ and it’s showing on both sides of the ball.”
Pierce then tried to take a victory lap for his take that the Lakers would be worse with LeBron, but the problem is that he and co-host Wosny Lambre were operating under a false premise. They both claimed the Lakers were 15-4 without LeBron and just 6-5 with him, but that’s just not true.
They seem to be forgetting that LeBron came back in mid-November and opened his season with four straight wins. In reality, the Lakers are 9-5 with him, and 11-5 without him. Those are virtually identical records.
Thankfully, Danny Green attempted to bring some sanity back to the conversation when he pointed out that the Lakers have faced a tough schedule in recent weeks since LeBron has been back, plus LeBron has had more on his plate since he’s been without Luka and Reaves at different times. He’s faced the surprising Suns three times, Eastern contenders Philly and Toronto once each, plus the Spurs, Rockets, and suddenly-hot Clippers, too.
Pierce had many memorable battles with LeBron back in his playing days, and he’s made some outlandish statements before, such as claiming LeBron isn’t a top-five player of all-time or saying that Pierce himself was better than Kobe Bryant or Dwyane Wade. He’s been an entertaining figure since he hung his sneakers up, but his game analysis needs to be taken with a grain of salt at this point.
Hating on LeBron has become its own cottage industry, but the man is averaging 20.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 6.7 assists on over 50% shooting in Year 23. The Lakers have some issues, but he’s not one of them.
