The new season tends to bring about hope of greater things to come for teams around the league and the Los Angeles Lakers were no different. With new head coach Darvin Ham now at the helm, there seemed to be a different feeling about them as compared to last season and fans were starting to believe that they were going to turn things around after that disastrous 2021-22 campaign.
There was some excitement leading up to their first preseason game of 2022, as the Lakers took on the lowly Sacramento Kings but all that went away after an hour or so. They got off to a good start, leading 46-41 at the half, but it went completely downhill after that.
The Lakers Fans Booed Their Team In The First Preseason Game
LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook would play all of their minutes in the first half itself and they looked good, but the backups were absolutely atrocious in the second half. The Lakers were outscored 64-29 in the last two quarters as the Kings rolled to a 105-75 win. Fans were not happy with how things went down and they made their feelings clear.
https://twitter.com/CooperHalpern/status/1577157999918841857
“Aaaand the Lakers are getting booed off the floor in the first preseason game of the season”
It is just the preseason but you never want to lose in this fashion, especially after the season they just had. It was also a 7th consecutive preseason defeat for the Lakers going back to last season, where they were 0-6. Those poor showings were brushed aside too, as many said the games didn’t matter, but it proved to be a precursor to that terrible campaign.
The only positive is that the Big 3 looked good together after looking so shaky last season and Ham also showed some support to Westbrook after his strong showing. There’s only so much that even these three can do, however, and the rest of the team can’t play as badly as they did in that second half. The Lakers take on the Suns next and both teams will feel like they have a point to prove in that one. While this loss for the Lakers was embarrassing, you can make the case that the Suns suffered the most embarrassing defeat of the preseason so far, as they lost to the Adelaide 36ers by 10 points. They will be looking to make amends for it and the Lakers will need to be on their toes.
