The Los Angeles Lakers are not the team that won the NBA Championship during the pandemic.
Since their title run, the roster has seen quite the changes, with the team going through a major transition, trading a bulk of its players for Russell Westbrook.
If the previous year that saw the Lakers end with a 33-49 run was forgettable, the ongoing 2022-23 is quickly turning out to be a disaster, with the side currently 2-9 and 14th in the West.
One of the journalists who has been covering the Lakers for the last nine years expressed his displeasure. Bill Oram of The Athletic took to Twitter to label the Purple and Gold as the worst team he had seen in all of his time covering the decorated side.
I covered the Lakers for nine years starting in 2013-14. That… was a lot of bad basketball. This is the worst Lakers team I’ve ever seen.
— Bill Oram (@billoram) November 10, 2022
I covered the Lakers for nine years starting in 2013-14. That… was a lot of bad basketball. This is the worst Lakers team I’ve ever seen.
It’s not thoroughly surprising if Oram will probably follow this up with a comprehensive article that outlines the past and the sordid present.
But it also has to be worth noting that the season has seen them play just 11 games, and there is still room for a turnaround, not to forget some trades that may put Los Angeles in a better position.
Is 2022-23’s Side The Worst Los Angeles Lakers Team?
To answer the question, not necessarily. The team that was perhaps the one with the worst record was a 2015-16 outfit that ended with an abysmal 17-65 record.
Although there have been comparisons that this team just might be on par with the latter, there is still room for improvement.
Over the last two decades, there have been instances where the previous Lakers’ sides have performed well below expectations.
2013-14 Los Angeles Lakers: 27-55 (32.9%)
2014-15 Los Angeles Lakers: 21-61 (25.6%)
2015-16 Los Angeles Lakers: 17-65 (20.7%)
2016-17 Los Angeles Lakers: 26-56 (31.7%)
2017-18 Los Angeles Lakers: 35-47 (42.6%)
In all of the above seasons, the Lakers failed to make the playoffs, and one of them included the retirement of Kobe Bryant, where his final years were not too great with the franchise.
Note that the win percentages are for a complete season, and the current percentage of 18% is too early to determine if the season is a complete failure.
Honestly, the present roster might imply that the Lakers may finish with a record similar to the aforementioned, but with 11 games so far and the season fate still in their own hands, perhaps the team has an opportunity to prove Oram wrong.
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