If you’ve followed the NBA this season, you know one of the biggest stories are the Los Angeles Lakers struggling to play like the title favorites they were before the start of the campaign.
The Purple and Gold looked poised to make a statement after trading for Russell Westbrook and signing a series of veterans to bolster their ranks, but they only looked good on paper. After almost two months of competition, the 17-time NBA champions rank 6th in the standings with a 14-13 record.
The veteran team has been mocked for a while now and recently, ESPN showed a graphic showing that their offense is the least explosive in the entire NBA. During Friday night’s broadcast, the network present data describing how slow the offense is this season.
Stats from Second Spectrum show:
– Average running speed – 4.25 MPH – slowest in NBA
– Percentage of time walking – 68% – highest in NBA
– Miles per game – 9.3 – 2nd fewest
ESPN went DEEP with this “ESPN stat” on the Los Angeles Lakers so far this season 👀
▪️Average running speed – 4.25 MPH – slowest in NBA
▪️Percentage of time walking – 68% – highest in NBA
▪️Miles per game – 9.3 – 2nd fewest
Thoughts? 😂🤔 pic.twitter.com/pcoAZ5HpLE
— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) December 10, 2021
This team is the oldest squad in age average of all time, and this is the perfect example of that. Even though many people believed the experience of this team would be the key to winning the championship, they have struggled to find chemistry and consistency.
Every week they star in a big story after failing to beat a weak team. One day they look like legit competitors and then get dismantled by a team under .500.
They’re expected to have a moved trade deadline and make another roster overhaul to face the remainder of the regular season and the potential playoffs. This experiment hasn’t worked out and the front office must do some drastic changes to bring that spark to a team that’s wandering around lately.
Time will tell if they can reach the Finals next year, but the way things stand now, that’s a mission impossible for the Lakers.
