5 things that went wrong for LA Lakers in the 2020-21 NBA season

LeBron James #23 of reacts to a fan courtside.

The 2020-21 NBA season started off with promise but ended in disaster for LeBron James and the LA Lakers. There were some highlights along the way but the good couldn’t overcome the bad in the Lakers’ disappointing bid to repeat as champions.

For the first time in his career, James suffered a first-round exit and bowed out humbly to the rampaging Phoenix Suns, who are representing the Western Conference in the NBA Finals this season. In a year when injuries to star players occurred on a regular basis, the LA Lakers were among the hardest hit, with James and Anthony Davis both sidelined for lengthy stretches.

Anthony Davis Strains Achilles In Loss To Denver Nuggets https://t.co/Zwr6GuiI8g
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) February 15, 2021

The LA Lakers’ season ended too early. Had it not been for a number of factors, the Purple and Gold could have had a deeper playoff run.

Here are 5 things that didn’t go the LA Lakers' way this season:

#5 The season started too early for the LA Lakers

NBA players were hoping to start the 2020-21 campaign around mid-January, but the owners won out and the regular season started on Dec. 22 last year. This came just two months after the LA Lakers played Game 6 of the 2020 NBA Finals to claim the championship during a pandemic-affected season.

That meant that rest and recuperation time for the bubble-weary squad was going to be the shortest ever in league history, considering also that training camp and pre-season games would be held prior to the 22nd.

Markieff Morris says "this is the most basketball I've ever played in my life," and says mentally it's draining. He's taken up meditation, and he says you have to trick yourself mentally into not feeling tired or sore between games.
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) February 25, 2021

By midseason, LA Lakers players were already voicing out how fatigued they were, with Markieff Morris stating that he had resorted to meditation just to keep himself from feeling the tiredness. In other words, coach Frank Vogel’s team was running on fumes way before the playoffs started and it seriously derailed their chances to repeat as champions.

#4 No consistent 3-point shooting

Alex Caruso #4 drives past Jordan Clarkson #00.

There was a time early in the season when guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso were in the top three in 3-point shooting percentage.

But as the season wore on, the LA Lakers’ lack of 3-point shooting was exposed and opponents exploited this weakness. During the regular season, they were 21st in 3-point percentage (35.4%) and 25th in 3-point shots made per game (11.1).

Opponents clogged the lane and made it difficult for the team’s slashers and their big men from getting easy looks in the paint. Teams called their bluff and dared the Lakers to shoot the three. The results were often not pretty.