The Los Angeles Lakers are the oldest team in the league – and their age is showing as their effort on the court
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LeBron James and co. have been constantly put in the crosshairs of the media for their age. With 8 players over 33 in their roster, there is no doubt about their sluggishness in transition. ESPN knows a thing or two about stats, although some of them are really obscure.
This one though is really worrisome for the Laker fans. A team filled with aging superstars and high egos, the purple and gold need to get a grip on the situation. 4mph is a brisk stroll at best, and anyone watching their games can easily vouch for that fact. They do look like they are walking in the park most of the time, just passing around the ball like a hot potato.
Even the young guys in the team like Talen Horton-Tucker and Malik Monk have been caught lacking in some of the games, while LBJ has definitely had to cut down on his drives to the rim owing to injury. One major player that has been dragging the speed down is Anthony Davis, who’s idea of basketball right now is to stand in a spot waiting for the ball to come to him.
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The Los Angeles Lakers are not a championship team by any means – not the way they play right now at least
2019-20 Lakers were the definition of Lakeshow. Swift transition buckets, offensive drives, and switching to defense on fast breaks were their specialty. They were 1st on defensive team rating for two years in a row. Some of that definitely was attributed to Alex Caruso and the team being considerably younger at that time.
Right now, high-profile egos seem to be clashing, and while it’s not visible on the court, there is definitely a lack of communication. There have been plays where no one talks to each other, and the lane to the basket is empty. When a supposed championship contender loses twice to a team that lost by 73 points, it’s a shame.
The Lakers currently boast a 14-13 record, 6th in their conference. They have not been able to string 3 wins together, consistently hovering around the .500 mark. Over-reliance on a soon-to-be 37-year-old man has never been a recipe for success. Just go back 8 years and the 2012-13 season, and the Lakers then had a similar conundrum too.
The 17-time champions failed spectacularly in their quest to stitch together a band of superstars, but no chemistry. Something similar to what we can see today. Of the 19-20 championship-winning teams, only 4 remain, and 2 of them moved around the league last year and returned. Rob Pelinka may have had a dream, but it seems destined to fail.