The Los Angeles Lakers have been a disappointing team this season, and there’s no doubt that they are far from competing for a championship. However, there were some people that had optimism about a potential late-season run, and some even had them winning their first-round series.
One of those people was Shaquille O’Neal. Previously, Shaquille O’Neal made a bold prediction about the Lakers, claiming that they’d be able to beat the Phoenix Suns if they made it to the playoffs as the 8th seed.
“I am disappointed in my Lakers, a lot of people are. We all forgot about their ages, ‘oh Westbrook’s coming, oh they got Carmelo.’ Like we’re used to having teams with big-name stars on it. So you’ve got a team with three Hall of Famers. You’d think they’d be in six or seven, and then AD’s not playing. So I doubt they even make the play-in game. But if they do, they definitely have to win and they will face Phoenix in the first round. And if they make it to the eighth spot, they will beat Phoenix.”
Now though, it seems as though Shaquille O’Neal has changed his mind about the team. When speaking on TNT, O’Neal claimed that the Lakers “don’t want it”, and that “they’re done”. O’Neal said this during the recent Mavericks-Lakers game, where the Lakers ended up getting blown out.
Shaq on the Lakers: "They don't want it. They're done." via TNT.
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) March 30, 2022
Hopefully, the Los Angeles Lakers will end up finishing the season well. However, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are currently injured, and with their loss to the Dallas Mavericks, they are now out of the play-in tournament, though things could change by the end of the season.
At this point, it seems as though the best course of action for the team would be to get to the offseason and find a way to make the team more competitive. Anthony Davis and LeBron James when healthy are still a top-tier duo, and hopefully, the Lakers find a way to improve the roster around them.
