The Los Angeles Lakers have had a subpar season this year, missing the play-in tournament and the playoffs. For a team that added Russell Westbrook as an impact move prior to the season, there is no doubt that this was a disappointing year.
Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen has recently explained why the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t succeed this year. He noted that the players are “obviously very talented”, but also stated that “the sacrifice” needed from them wasn’t present. Christine Samra and Sam Rubin of KTLA relayed the news:
“I just felt like, this season, the sacrifice wasn’t there,” explained Pippen, who was a Lakers fan growing up. “The players are obviously very talented. They brought in some players who are very knowledgeable about the game and can still play at a very high level, but I just felt like there wasn’t a lot of sacrifice from the individuals. That really caused that team to have a lot of chaos throughout the season.”
The Chicago Bulls alum said the Lakers lacked “chemistry” this season and compared them to the Golden State Warriors who have “figured it out. ”
“Steph, Klay, Draymond- those guys are leaders on their team,” he said. “Those guys make that team go.”
There is no doubt that talent alone doesn’t necessarily succeed, and a certain level of chemistry is required to win championships. Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy even predicted this ahead of the season, claiming that “paper doesn’t win championships”, and that the team had to “figure out ways to play with each other and sacrifice”:
Paper doesn’t win championships for us. Those names that are on that paper, are some phenomenal names… We gotta do our work and make sure we gel. Do we fit? These guys, they gotta figure out ways to play with each other and sacrifice, and let their names take over. You know, you look at that piece of paper and say, Lakers are loaded, automatic championship. Nah man, we got a lot of work to do in terms of just gelling, finding our rhythm and being able to be cohesive as a unit.
It remains to be seen what is required for the Los Angeles Lakers to become a championship squad once again. It’s clear that some changes have to be made for that to happen.
Even though the Lakers had a disappointing season, it is possible that they will do better next season. They still have LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the roster, and that is a good foundation for a championship-level team.
