The Los Angeles Lakers being officially eliminated from the 2022 NBA post-season is going to be something that has the internet reeling for a few days. However, the work to recover from this and actually have a plan going forward will begin sooner rather than later for the Lakers.
The first step will be to analyze everything that went wrong. That will be a lengthy step considering everything that did go wrong for LA this season, but it is a start. While they work on that internally, the players and coaches need to come to take responsibility for what many will consider a disastrous season.
Carmelo Anthony hasn’t shied away from that accountability in his interviews after the Phoenix Suns beat the Lakers to eliminate them.
Carmelo on Lakers getting eliminated: "This is a season we just didn't get it done. We had the tools. … We can't make no excuses about it. We just didn't get it done."
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) April 6, 2022
Carmelo Anthony signed with the Lakers to be a scoring plug off the bench, a role he has most certainly lived up to. Anthony is averaging 13.3 points this season, the most ever by a 37-year-old in the NBA. At the start of the season, Anthony’s offense allowed the Lakers to steal victories and stay competitive. However, his production impact dropped as the season progressed.
This was LeBron James’ worst season since his rookie year and is going to sting. Anthony Davis was injured for most of the season and hasn’t had a game-winning impact as the Lakers have lost all three games. Russell Westbrook has seen a statistical improvement finally after 4 months of inconsistent play, but even that hasn’t been enough.
The Lakers have a lot of searching to do, as the blame can be cast in multiple directions right now. Hopefully, they can make the right adjustments to be more competitive next year. Whether Carmelo Anthony will be coming back is another question entirely, as Melo signed a one-year veteran’s minimum to come play with the Lakers.
