[Justin3587]

They need to blow it up when everyone is healthy. Get all the young talent and picks you can get.

Feel terrible for the city.

I swear. When Kobe died, the lakers died and the world went to shit.

[jjgold]

James ruined another team

[JAKEPEAVY21]

They need to blow it up when everyone is healthy. Get all the young talent and picks you can get.

Feel terrible for the city.

I swear. When Kobe died, the lakers died and the world went to shit.

They don't have many assets unless they trade James or Davis.

They mortgaged the future to get James "his guys" and they got what they asked for.

[Four33]

I think it’s funny James and his boys tried throwing laker Gm under the bus when they got them all the guys they wanted.

[jjgold]

THey ruined me

I chased them like a jerkoff

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Where are the die hard Laker fans?

gaucher and jibby check in...

Oops, I forgot LA teams don't have die hard fans only bandwagoners

[shadymcgrady]

LeBron looks terrible compared to his previous seasons, just old and gassed

[hawkwind]

dead wood lj holding them back. FLJ

[stevenash]

James is getting blamed for the chaos too.

Cut and pasted from this mornings The Athletic.



The most egregious violation Friday night didn’t occur when LeBron James stepped out of bounds. It came instead when the referees dared to broaden the scope of a review to actually get the call right.
And LeBron may have pushed for the Russell Westbrook trade and signed off on the rest of the roster, but he doesn’t bear responsibility for this trainwreck season because, he said, “I don’t press any buttons. That’s what our front office is for.”
And those comments he made over All-Star weekend that left everybody prepping for his Lakers exit? Well… those were someone else’s fault, too.
“It’s weird,” James told a roomful of reporters, “that you guys — well not you guys, whoever started this whole thing… Bill doesn’t like the Lakers, anyway. It’s always going to be a negative.”
Bill is a very common name. He probably means a different Bill.
“Anytime Bill says anything about the Lakers it’s going to be negative,” James repeated.
Bill could be anyb—
“So, I hope no one in the Lakers faithful listens to Bill Oram. I hope not. He hasn’t said one great thing about the Lakers in so long.”
Oh.
My sin? Attempting to interpret the famously calculating star’s remarks.
LeBron was smiling. He was just teasing.
At least I think he was.
But in my defense, what exactly has there been to like about the Lakers?
After a 105-102 loss to the Clippers Friday night, they are 27-32, five games under .500 and now 2 1/2 games behind the Clippers for eighth in the West. It was a game that turned on a nearly 8-minute review with 26 seconds left, when officials determined James had stepped out of bounds and awarded the ball to the Clippers.
James groused that the review, triggered by Clippers’ coach Tyronn Lue, should have been limited to the initial question of whether Robert Covington, who had intercepted James’ desperate pass, was out of bounds himself.
Instead, officials determined James’ efforts to save the ball on the baseline were part of the same sequence and therefore subject to review.
“That would be like if I was going down the floor, and I traveled,” James said, “but the refs called a foul. (If) you challenge it, they’re not going to go back and say, ‘Well, you traveled.’ It’s never happened.’”
Coach Frank Vogel, as fired up as he’s been in his Lakers tenure, called the decision “B.S.”
Actual basketball drama was a welcome respite from the palace intrigue of the past week, but it didn’t mean the juicy stuff was just over.
The white-knuckling was perhaps inevitable after James, at 37, has consistently played at an MVP level and gotten inconsistent and insufficient help from his chosen cast of supporting actors.
He should be peeved.
And no matter how he tries to spin it now, you’d best believe he is.
He certainly was cranky in the buildup to the trade deadline and even more so in the aftermath of Rob Pelinka failing to make a move to improve the roster around him. During his All-Star homecoming, James spoke with The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd and stirred up a bona fide maelstrom.
Those are the buttons he pushes.
In the six days since those comments, he didn’t use his sizable social media platform to clear up any confusion or declare something resembling loyalty to the Lakers.
It wasn’t until a couple of hours before tipoff Friday that ESPN reported Pelinka, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and Rich Paul, James’ agent, met Tuesday to clear the air and for Paul to reassert James’ commitment to the franchise.
It was all a big misunderstanding, you see?
LeBron is asking us to ignore 19 years of passive-aggressive maneuvers and subtweets and to take his comments about possibly returning to play in Cleveland and his glowing endorsements of Sam Presti, Koby Altman and Les “penetrate Them Picks” Snead at face value.
No subtext.
No implications.
No pressure being applied on the Lakers.
Nothing to see here, folks.
By Friday night, LeBron was completely on message and left no room for interpretation.
When I asked him how confident he was that the Lakers front office would be able to build contending rosters around him for as long as he remains in Los Angeles, he seemed to bear none of the scars of this losing season.
“Very confident,” James said. “They’ve done it. They’ve shown me that. Ever since I got here, the front office of Jeanie, Linda (Rambis), Kurt (Rambis), everybody has welcomed me with open arms and has given me an opportunity to play for a historical franchise and welcomed my family in.”
Should we not note that James failed to include Pelinka in that list? Do we chalk it up to a clerical error?
James did say he sees himself with the Lakers “as long as I can play,” which should ease the fears of any fans who saw his Cleveland comments as a declaration of intention rather than simple saber-rattling.
All that was missing on Friday, after a week of chaos, was just some baseline accountability. James shares in the responsibility for this punchless season, but he can’t bring himself to share that publicly.
Instead, we got: “I don’t push the buttons. They ask for my opinion, and I voice my opinion and what I believe.”
Same with the flap LeBron created while in Cleveland.
His comments created a crisis for the Lakers. If they hadn’t, then it wouldn’t have required a meeting between the Lakers’ key stakeholders that, The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported, spanned two hours.
What were they doing in there? Comparing Wordle scores?
No, they were getting back on the same page after becoming so severely splintered.
That was the widely perceived purpose of James hinting at his wandering eye. To get the Lakers attention and remind them of the precious commodity they have in this ageless wonder.
Because he is the one great thing about the Lakers.

[gauchojake]

Where are the die hard Laker fans?

gaucher and jibby check in...

Oops, I forgot LA teams don't have die hard fans only bandwagoners

Bro...

The truth is that they need to trade LeBron but they probably won't. It's tough to watch but the franchise has always done what's necessary to win. We'll see what happens in the off season.

[Justin3587]

Bro...

The truth is that they need to trade LeBron but they probably won't. It's tough to watch but the franchise has always done what's necessary to win. We'll see what happens in the off season.

I agree. Although lebrons numbers are insane, I just don’t feeel like he feels well with this team.

[gauchojake]

I agree. Although lebrons numbers are insane, I just don’t feeel like he feels well with this team.

He needs shooters. They got nobody who can shoot the three. It does seem like Lebron's season is going to waste but he helped put this team together. Did they think Wayne Ellington was the answer?? Lol

Anyways unless they can get someone to take that awful Westbrook contract they are going to be middle of the road bad for a while.

[d2bets]

They need to blow it up when everyone is healthy. Get all the young talent and picks you can get.

Feel terrible for the city.

I swear. When Kobe died, the lakers died and the world went to shit.

Didn't the Lakers win a title in the season following his death? Lakers suck now, but what does it have to do with Kobe? Feel terrible for LA? lol

[gauchojake]

We are fresh off a Superbowl. We'll be ok if the Lakers are bad for a year or two.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Bro...

The truth is that they need to trade LeBron but they probably won't. It's tough to watch but the franchise has always done what's necessary to win. We'll see what happens in the off season.

It will be a long rebuild...

[stevenash]

Ask Washington if they're loving the Westbrook for Kuzma part of that five way deal?
Kuzma is putting up solid 17/9 numbers on a nightly basis, Westbrook is toasted, burnt to a crisp, well done.

James can deflect all he wants, but his paw prints are all over this roster.

He'll bail, just like he bailed pretty much everywhere else he played.

[DrunkHorseplayer]

This is why players should play and let the suits make the decisions. LeBron is another great player/shitty GM a la Michael Jordan. I can see Lebron trying to coach or GM after retirement, teams saying "uhh...no" and him claiming racism.

[Mac4Lyfe]

Laker fans are too damn entitled. They were shitty for a very long time. Lebron got them a bubble win. Most fans would give their left nut to get a title. The Cavs only got one but four our fans, that was worth all the titles LA have won in their history.

[shadymcgrady]

Laker fans are too damn entitled. They were shitty for a very long time. Lebron got them a bubble win. Most fans would give their left nut to get a title. The Cavs only got one but four our fans, that was worth all the titles LA have won in their history.

Well you're talking about the Lakers Mac, they are the Yankees or the Barcelona of the NBA. If they aren't winning they at least have to have one of the best players in the current NBA landscape at all times

[Mac4Lyfe]

LeBron looks terrible compared to his previous seasons, just old and gassed

Huh? He's still playing at a very high level. He's holding up his end of the bargain. It's all the other guys that are playing like shit and Anthony Davis doing what Anthony Davis does... Stay on the injury list.

James still has game. I can't fault him for his ability. But, his bad attitude is infecting this team. He is a horrible teammate with his body language. The moment anything goes wrong, he pouts. The moment a teammate makes a mistake he shrugs his shoulders. He's like a gigantic anchor on his teammates neck where they can't play loose, care free because he's always looking and critiquing them. I would absolutely hate playing with Lebron because he loves to give people the stink eye. Who wants that shit??

[shadymcgrady]

Huh? He's still playing at a very high level. He's holding up his end of the bargain. It's all the other guys that are playing like shit and Anthony Davis doing what Anthony Davis does... Stay on the injury list.

James still has game. I can't fault him for his ability. But, his bad attitude is infecting this team. He is a horrible teammate with his body language. The moment anything goes wrong, he pouts. The moment a teammate makes a mistake he shrugs his shoulders. He's like a gigantic anchor on his teammates neck where they can't play loose, care free because he's always looking and critiquing them. I would absolutely hate playing with Lebron because he loves to give people the stink eye. Who wants that shit??

So his game the past few years has been to rely on big shots while giving up open threes or layups on layer 2 or 3 defensive switches. He never rotates and now it just looks bad bc he doesn't even make an effort on the second switch let alone the third or fourth iteration.

On top of that he's missing the following three or layup after giving up big bucket after big bucket as the game is on the line in the fourth. He is a shell of himself at the moment. Perhaps he's gassed from doing it all or his age or both but he looks terrible.

You could look at the box scores without watching the game and think he's fine but the eye test is completely different.

[stevenash]

^
And he loved Caruso, but ask Caruso (even though he's injured) if he wanted to stay in LA even when James said he wants him as a teammate?

Speaks volumes.

[shadymcgrady]

^
And he loved Caruso, but ask Caruso (even though he's injured) if he wanted to stay in LA even when James said he wants him as a teammate?

Speaks volumes.

He publicly lauds guys like Caruso and talen Horton tucker bc they do the dirty work on switching over for him on defense on the perimeter. Sure he likes to chase down the ESPN highlight block once a game but for every one of those he leaves wide open threes at least half a dozen times to a dozen times. The math doesn't lie, even if a team is cold say 30 percent from three that's still more than the two points he blocked

[bigtymer56]

^
And he loved Caruso, but ask Caruso (even though he's injured) if he wanted to stay in LA even when James said he wants him as a teammate?

Speaks volumes.

Well according to this, it seems like the only reason he's not in LA anymore is because they lowballed him during free agency

[shadymcgrady]

Caruso didn't leave the Lakers bc of LeBron, he wanted a bigger deal

[stevenash]

Well according to this, it seems like the only reason he's not in LA anymore is because they lowballed him during free agency

James (which I'm led to believe anyway) has major clout on those who control the purse strings out there could have done something about that.

[bigtymer56]

James (which I'm led to believe anyway) has major clout on those who control the purse strings out there could have done something about that.

Well this would be a counterargument to the amount of power he has with management... cuz Im guessong Lebron doesnt give a dam about how much the Lakers pay, if it means he has a winning squad.

Also the fact Westbrook didnt get traded at deadline, shows LeGM isnt the one making final decisions.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Caruso being on the team would not have made much of a difference...they might have a few more wins...

[stevenash]

Well this would be a counterargument to the amount of power he has with management... cuz Im guessong Lebron doesnt give a dam about how much the Lakers pay, if it means he has a winning squad.

Also the fact Westbrook didnt get traded at deadline, shows LeGM isnt the one making final decisions.

This whole Laker thing is a confusing clusterfuck.
Cowherd come on in five minutes, his show is right there by Staples, his studio is like 2 miles away.
He's got, and his buddies have a finger on the pulse,

Guaranteed to be an extremely interesting show.

[shadymcgrady]

As terrible as the Lakers are this year they will still be the talk of the NBA with the much anticipated showtime series about to hit HBO in March. It looks like it's going to be great

[d2bets]

Caruso didn't leave the Lakers bc of LeBron, he wanted a bigger deal

Yeah, they lowballed him and wouldn't give him anything near what he was worth. Because they gave the world to Westbrook.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

This is very enjoyable to watch.

[mama whoiscrying]

This is very enjoyable to watch.

Yes it is!

[johnnyvegas13]

LA got the title for Kobe and they r done now

James will play one season w his son and retire

[jjgold]

James is kid no nba player

Lol