I really cannot understand why people thought the Lakers actually WOULD make the playoffs this season? What is happening with them is very unsurprising. They stink. Last season they got to 35 wins - if they make it to 40 this season, then they've improved some. But that is still a long way off from the 47 it took to make the playoffs last season. Oh but they got Lebron. Who was a legend at beating up the East coast weak teams. Last season the Cavs went 15-15 against Western teams. So with a stacked roster Lebron went .500 against the West. The year before Lebron was 16-14 vs the West You get the picture. The East is pathetic, the Cavs wouldn't have made the playoffs in the West last season. Why did people think the Lakers were a playoff team?!?See if they can break .500 first!
i actually still think the lakers are going to sneak in as the 8th seed barely still. Doesn't mean much as they'll get eliminated early anyway. The clippers schedule is more difficult and the last week of the season consists of pretty tough matchups if/when it comes down to it to get in that final spot. Sac, while improving are still about a year away from getting back in finally. Minnesota? Meh, we know how underwhelming they are haha
Lebron missed 18 games, the lakers went 6-12 during that stretch. I know its pile on Lebron week, but if he played all 82 games I think the lakers would have probably made it.
So Lebron finally decided to be a small ball 5 and he can't even stick with Brook Lopez on the perimeter. Dude is completely washed as a defensive player at 34 and thats without even trying hard for 75% of the season. Hakeem was a better player in every way
Hakeem never really took the pounding Lebron has had he led the league in mins played for most of his career and went to the finals 9x straight, thats a lot of games. His contemporaries like Dwade, Bosh and Melo are already retiring or out of the league so its a testament to him he is still a star at his age. Hakeem started playing in the NBA at age 21, players aged later in those times as they started too late. Lebron started age 18 so add 3 years to Hakeem how good was he when he was 37? IIRC he retired age 39 so he close to the end at that age too. I know everybody is hating on Lebron now and even I'm turned off by his megalomania but his legacy is rock solid as one of the best players ever even if he decided to retire right now.
I have Lebron in my top 5 and enjoy watching him play. I honestly feel Hakeem was a more effective player just my opinion i guess. As far as wear and tear Lebron has benefited from playing on a stacked team in a weak eastern conference for his entire prime. He straight up coasted all of those regular seasons and went full tryhard in the playoffs. Nobody is giving any of these other players excuses it's time you Lebron fan boys stop giving them to him.
He won 4 MVPs and like I said he lead the league in mins played I dunno why "coasting" means playing lots of mins in your head. No doubt the weak EC made his path to the Finals easier but at the same time all those finals trips also took a hard toll on his body, the grind in the NBA is real not sure how you keep denying that. Nobody is giving Lebron an excuse which player in his generation is still a starter in today's NBA? It's kinda ridiculous you are slamming Lebron for his bad defense when Dwade is retiring this year. Shame on Lebron for still being a top 5 player in the NBA when his batchmates are retiring wtf. I mean Steph Curry has been a bad defender his entire career but nobody gives a **** about that, Lebron has bad defense year 15 suddenly he is the most overrated player ever. Nobody beats Father Time Lebron for all his faults has given him a great fight.
If the Lakers are out of playoff contention with 5 games left in the season I expect him to shut it down Rocket River
Only thing surprising is the league didn't blatantly get the Lakers in the playoffs... I'm actually proud of that.
Even as a big LeBron fan, it's pretty funny to watch him choose LA over Houston and now not even get close to the playoffs when he could have competed for a championship here. Maybe having an easy year and missing the Playoffs to rev up for next year when they think they will sign someone was the plan, but I doubt it. And yet this also just makes me hate Adam Silver more. The guy had Warriors Cavs game 7 handed to him on a platter early in his tenure and the dude just threw that in the trash by watching Kevin Durant sign with the Warriors. We had two straight super boring finals and now LeBron not making the playoffs because I think he figured he couldn't beat the Warriors so why not just take it easy in Los Angeles. The guy essentially had Michael Jordan in his prime and just threw three years of it away. By the time this season ends, we will have had three years without a single meaningful LeBron James Finals game. That's a pretty amazing failure for a commissioner. People always say, well David Stern had Michael Jordan. Yeah but at least he didn't screw the Michael Jordan thing up.
Easy to say that now, it wasnt just people, it was highly educated people (vegas bookies that are run by hedge fund quants) that had them easily in the Playoffs. It wasnt just lebron either, they added some gritty guys who could prove to be successful in the moments that count (Rondo, Lance, and even Javale rejuvenated his career, Beasily is an X factor you think could of had a shot of doing well with someone disciplined like Lebron and Rondo keeping him in check). Combine those factors with the expectation that guys like Kuzma and Ball who both showed signs of being legitimate players in the league, should have improved in their second year. They actually have, Ball has missed over a month now, and I believe this team would not have lost to the Suns and Pelicans with him out there. Lebron got a real injury for the first time in his entire career, we thought he was superhuman and hes 34, not 38 there is nothing from him historically driving us to assume he'd get hurt. Ingram had just turned 21 at the beginning of the season, I mean you see the talent he has and it was very possible he could have a breakout year. Them being a top 3 seed was a stretch, but to say you cant understand why people had them in the playoffs is absolutely ridiculous.
In what world could this possibly be Adam Silver’s fault? What would you have him do? Veto Durant to the Warriors?
Lebron was very explosive against the Bucks. He has recovered from the groin injury. They still have a a chance of making the playoffs, but his childish walkout at the end of the game isn't going to help their team. I'm fine with that.
