Basketball, NBA: The Los Angeles Lakers are in a shambles

As of 10:13 a.m | Reading time: 4 minutes

LeBron James in jean shorts and a gray hoodie is pretty much worthless to the Los Angeles Lakers. At the penultimate home game of the record champions in the NBA main round, the 37-year-old superstar sat on the edge of the field in civilian clothes. The ankle. But even if James had been able to play in the 118:129 against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday – at the end of this bankruptcy, bad luck and breakdown season of the glittering club from the entertainment metropolis in California, almost certainly nothing would have changed: If it was in the Playoffs get down to business, the record champion is not there. And neither does the most important basketball player in the league.

James recently became the second-best pitcher in league history and is currently the top scorer of the season. However, with four games remaining in the regular season, the Lakers still need to win three times more than the San Antonio Spurs to climb tenth place and be eligible to play-in.

Because the Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, the situation is even worse than on Friday, when only two wins had to be made up. And even then, after the loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, James said, “The overall picture is that that was pretty much a must-win for us – and we didn’t get the job done.”

“We look really good on paper”

In principle, everyone knows that this season is over. The Lakers and the Boston Celtics still share the title of record champions in the NBA, each with 17 titles. But instead of the team that once brought show and sport together and that defines itself more than any other team in the league through success and victories, the Celtics may soon be the most successful team in league history – the team around national player Daniel Theis is in the Eastern Conference in second place and have won 13 of their last 16 games. The Lakers’ haul over the same period? Four wins. Twelve defeats.

The Lakers were so confident going into the season – after all, the roster sounded like that of an All-Star game. LeBron James and Anthony Davis were already there, followed by Carmelo Anthony and, supposedly the most important newcomer, Russell Westbrook. What you didn’t think Dennis Schröder was capable of after his only season in the Lakers jersey, Westbrook should now be – the engine of a well-running offensive machine. “We look really good on paper,” Davis said after the Nuggets’ defeat. “But we didn’t get a chance to show that.”

The Lakers have 78 games behind them. There was a new starting line-up 39 times. James, Davis and Westbrook together? The fans only saw it 21 times. Sometimes Davis was injured, sometimes James, sometimes both, Davis has been back for two games, but James is not. “What could we have been if we had all been healthy?” Davis asked the journalists on Sunday.

The many injuries are certainly the main reason for the blatant descent from the title candidate to the middle class team. On the other hand, they are not the only explanation – too many mistakes were made by the healthy players, too many victories were carelessly given away. And Westbrook is nowhere near the top performer you’d want him to be.

James can still become a top scorer

There are still four games of hope left. On Tuesday with the Phoenix Suns, the best team in the league. Then with the Golden State Warriors, who still have to do without Stephen Curry, but have overcome their mini-crisis with two wins in a row. Then the Oklahoma City Thunder come to the last home game of the main round. Finally, on April 10: The nuggets again.

Should James appear in at least two games and thus reach 70 percent of the season, he at least still has a chance of a personal title: as the league’s top scorer. It would be the second time in his career – but in view of the overall situation only a very, very small consolation.