With the way the 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers performed, there have been comparisons to Lakers teams from the past. The only other previous Lakers teams that have been as disappointing as this one is the one from 2012-2013. To help an aging Kobe Bryant, the Lakers signed superstar center Dwight Howard and veteran All-Star point guard Steve Nash to team up with Kobe and Pau Gasol to form a superteam.
But the super team never ended up delivering the way it was expected. Steve Nash was well past his prime and missed a significant amount of time to injury. Pau Gasol had also declined significantly in the past few seasons. But without a doubt, the biggest issue for the Lakers was the tension and anger between Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. And head coach Mike D’Antoni struggled to get them working.
Former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni spoke recently about his experience coaching the Lakers with Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. He noted that both players had a dislike for each other, and it was very difficult to get them on the same page as each other. Kobe, while he was a great player, was a tough personality, and that didn’t gel well with Dwight Howard (1:38 onwards).
“Friction? I thought I was gonna get killed… I just couldn’t get them on the same page. They didn’t like each other. It was contentious. We didn’t really have the talent. You want to play Steve, but he wasn’t up to it. Then he wasn’t even there. Kobe was older … still good, still great, unbelievable, but very tough personality. He and Dwight didn’t mesh; just a lot of things. And then tough atmosphere; a lot of things just didn’t work.”
D’Antoni’s Lakers would end up reaching the playoffs but would be knocked out in the first round of the playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs. A team that was put together with the idea of dominating the NBA en route to winning a championship collapsed massively, as the Lakers would then enter a rebuild the following season.
The 2012-13 season was extremely similar to the 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers. If anything, the 2021-22 Lakers were worse because they weren’t even able to reach the playoffs. But neither season could be considered a success, given the initial expectations when the team was put together.
