Despite the great victory acquired this Friday against the Wizards, and the recent major exploits of LeBron James, the Lakers are still far from having a perfect season. Echoes from the franchise also illustrate the deleterious climate that has reigned there in recent days!
The recent victory obtained against the Warriors showed it well: it will take more than a big success of this kind or an XXL box of LeBron James to reverse the situation. The Lakers’ season as a whole remains a rollercoaster ride, with downhills much more frequent than uphills. Not sure, therefore, that the improvement observed against the Wizards will change anything in their destiny.
Thanks to a still stratospheric LBJ, the Angelinos have given themselves some air in the standings, and are now 3.5 games ahead of 11th place in the West. However, regardless of their final position at the end of the regular season, their chances of winning the title next June remain close to zero. This also seems to have been well understood inside the locker room!
The Lakers already resigned to their fate this season?
Despite the presence of seasoned competitors within the roster, the Purple & Gold have few illusions regarding their level and their ceiling. Therefore, the atmosphere would not be ideal in the ranks of LA, as reported by Dan Woike of Los Angeles Times.
The climate in and around the team, as you might imagine, is not great.
Worse, some coaches and players would be ultra-defeatist, and even in a hurry to get it over with!
Several chats with staff and players have included phrases like, “At least there’s only a month left” — not necessarily the kind of message that might be heard in a group whose ambitions are to play until early summer.
Unsurprisingly, the disappointing results of the Lakers would already push some players to anticipate the offseason, waiting to be able to quickly find a way out. This could notably be the case of Russell Westbrook, whose adventure in Los Angeles turns into an absolute fiasco, and whose latest performance made his case even worse !
The fact that Frank Vogel’s assistants, supposed to create a climate of trust and well-being in the group, also show such resignation certainly does not help. Indeed, it would be almost logical for players not to surpass themselves for a coaching staff that no longer even believes in them. Suffice to say that the end of the campaign still promises to be folkloric despite the victory pocketed in recent hours!
Insufficient performance on the field, deplorable atmosphere behind the scenes: the Lakers bring together all the ingredients to lay a historically deplorable season for the franchise. In this context, difficult to know how they could get out of it!
