The Los Angeles Lakers ended their season far from where they wanted to. Coming into the NBA season, the Lakers were expected to be one of the frontrunners in the race for the NBA championship. But the Lakers never showed any championship pedigree this season, and now, they have been eliminated from contention for the play-in tournament, thus ending their season early.
NBA legend James Worthy spoke about the Los Angeles Lakers getting eliminated from playoff contention last night. Worthy seemed shocked that a Lakers team with the type of talent they have won’t be in the playoffs this year. While he did give them some leeway due to the injuries they accrued during the course of the season, he did note that the Lakers did not perform the way they were expected to (till 1:55).
"Unbelievable to think this team won't even be in the play-in game when it was assembled and predicted to win a championship." @JamesWorthy42 & the post-game team reflect on the reality that the #Lakers are eliminated from playoff contention. pic.twitter.com/1avepR9miM
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 6, 2022
“I think reality is the keyword to focus on. Unbelievable for people to think we’re not even going to be in the play-in. This team was assembled over the summer and predicted to win a championship. I don’t really have words for this season. With the exception of a lot of disarray. A lot of injuries, a lot of players having to get used to each other, never really developed. Combine with the injuries, different lineups, just never really got your engine to run the way it was supposed to run. You had too many parts you had to replace every now and then. The only thing I can go to is, the 7 to 11 games that they should have won, the ones they had big leads and blew them out in the second half. You’ll look at those and focus on that. This was a very disappointing season, but its not over yet, despite all the uphill battles they had, still kinda disappointing for the Lakers. The Lakers, tonight they didn’t make the play-in game. This is where we find ourselves right now.”
Russell Westbrook also spoke after the game, noting that it was a disappointing end to the Lakers season. Anthony Davis also spoke after the game, lamenting how he and the team performed, especially considering that their goal was to win an NBA championship this season.
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel, who many expect to be dismissed for this season, also noted how upset he was, but gave his team credit for fighting till the end and constantly putting in the effort to be better. Things have to change in LA during the offseason, especially considering the short window they have with LeBron James to win a championship.
