Friday night’s meaningless win over the Thunder was the perfect representation of what this season has been like for the Lakers.
With their playoff hopes already dashed, half of the team didn’t bother suiting up and many of the fans on Twitter and in the stands were left thinking about the future and how the squad might look at this time next year.
Perhaps the wildest part of the night was LeBron James’ arrival later in the game. After kicking Kent Bazemore from his seat on the bench, he left the poor guy hanging as he was dapping up his other teammates.
It was an awkward exchange, and many fans couldn’t help but remember the fact that Bazemore sacrificed more money to join the team last year.
Bron 😂 pic.twitter.com/ggUXdOJnq2
— Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) April 10, 2022
James did his best to give the Lakers a chance. In the end, he couldn’t even get them a spot in the play-in.
Besides injuries that ravaged the team all season, the arrival of Russell Westbrook was not a smooth one and he was never able to find his groove wearing the Purple and Gold.
Now that it’s all said and done, some are calling this campaign the most disappointing in franchise history.
“All of those years I’ve watched Lakers basketball, I’ve never seen them have All-NBA caliber performers like LeBron and AD on the roster, future Hall of Famers like Russ and Carmelo, and Dwight, and they can’t qualify for the play-in,” said Jalen Rose. “This is the most disappointing season I recall in the history of the Los Angeles Lakers. Let me give it some context. It’s not like they were not one of the favorites to start the year. Them and the Nets were the two favorites to make it to the NBA Finals. to start the season. People like myself when I saw them assemble, even with Russ, they’ll figure it out. Russ will stagger his minutes. He’ll be a triple-double when LeBron misses 25 games. He’ll hold it down when AD misses 20 games.”
The future is uncertain for the Lakeshow. LeBron James will be back, but nobody knows how much longer he’ll stay efficient. Anthony Davis will likely return as well, but it remains to be seen if he can stay healthy.
As for Kent Bazemore, he might come to regret signing with the Lakers if things don’t change for the better soon.
