With each passing game, the Los Angeles Lakers look more and more like a team that has given up on the season.
Heading into Thursday’s showdown against the Clippers, the Purple and Gold were losers of 3 straight and in desperate need of a victory.
Sadly, their most recent contest ended in another loss (132-111), sending the team closer to the dreaded play-in line.
Amid a poor effort from the Lakers all-around, fans took to Twitter (unsurprisingly) to call out the team.
Lakers trying to beat the Clippers pic.twitter.com/s2RPK7SMCY
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) March 4, 2022
Good Lord have mercy. What an ass-kicking the @LAClippers are handing to the @Lakers. A damn avalanche. It’s over. The @Lakers gotta make a change. This is just too bad to take.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) March 4, 2022
The Clippers after the Lakers ended the first half with a 14-0 run. 😂 pic.twitter.com/zMASHGdhbA
— theScore (@theScore) March 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/DrGuru_/status/1499609170013827073https://twitter.com/solocarIos/status/1499615595062386692
Haii @Lakers pic.twitter.com/cYANZXt29j
— Clive Kevin (@MCFC_Clive) March 4, 2022
los angeles Lakers. pic.twitter.com/k73Ure3Ti4
— nba paint (@nba_paint) March 4, 2022
Lakers….. #lakeshow pic.twitter.com/pCxhBhkIzI
— Sir Craig Diebert (@eldieberto) March 4, 2022
Rob Pelinka putting this lakers team together pic.twitter.com/mH0ODbbmru
— Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) March 4, 2022
let's check in on lakers twi— pic.twitter.com/UcRlROlthO
— Dan Favale (@danfavale) March 4, 2022
With a roster of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, the Lakers were hailed as one of the best teams in the league just a few months ago.
By all accounts, their combined talent and experience would have been enough to make them competitive in the West.
Today, the situation has become unhinged. LeBron James doesn’t seem to be able to carry a team anymore, Anthony Davis can’t stay healthy, and Russell Westbrook is talking about a trade just months into his Lakers tenure.
Worse still is that most of the players have given up completely on trying to turn things around.
“When you’re a Laker, and you’re a big-name player, and you’re playing in L.A., all opponents, I don’t care who they are, they’re going to be coming into L.A. and they’re going to be playing above their heads,” said Shaq. “And you can never make an excuse for lack of effort. You’ve gotta at least put more effort into it. I don’t mind losing, but when you don’t have a lot of effort, it shows that, I hate to use this word, it looks like they’re quitting.”
For a team that won the Championship in 2020 to fall so hard and so fast is almost unbelievable, especially considering LeBron is still actively playing.
Unfortunately, that’s just the reality for Laker Nation. No matter how this season ends, it’s a safe bet that major changes will be made and the team we see now will not be the same team we see in October.
Hopefully, this time, they make the right moves.
