The Los Angeles Lakers suffered another defeat on Tuesday night against the Dallas Mavericks. The Texans almost blew a big lead, but Luka Doncic and co. managed to hold the Lakers and get another big win after defeating the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
As usual, fans had something to say about the Lakers, who are now seven games under the .500 mark, showing that they are terrible right now, and their adjustments (if there is any) haven’t worked for them.
Following the match, they received big criticism, and former player Shaquille O’Neal didn’t hesitate to call them out, claiming that they looked like a team that just gave up. He talked about the stars that don’t think rivals are coming for their heads, urging them to change their minds.
“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.”
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Moreover, O’Neal went further and called them quitters, stating he didn’t want to use that word, but that’s just how the team looks in his eyes.
“You’ve gotta at least put more effort into it,” he said. “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.”
Shaq is clearly unhappy with the Lakers. He has criticized Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook before, as well as the entire team for their bad performances. It doesn’t look like the team will make substantial changes for the remainder of the season. They need a miracle to get past the first round of the playoffs if they even make it to the big party.
