"If we're talking about the championship for excuses making, we can talk about the Lakers" - Tim MacMahon criticizes the LA Lakers as their woeful season draws to a close
The LA Lakers are done for the season after getting officially eliminated from playoff contention earlier this week. The Lakers went from being NBA championship favorites to one of the most disappointing teams in history. With the playoffs fast approaching, people will have to stop talking about the Lakers.
On the most recent episode of The Hoop Collective podcast, Briand Windhorst proclaimed that it was time to stop talking about the Lakers because they are out. However, Tim MacMahon had to take a shot at them for making a lot of excuses about their terrible season.
"If we're talking about championship for excuses making, we can talk about the Lakers. Those poor Lakers, who had so many injuries, but if you look at teams whose Big 3s were hit harder by injuries above them in the West? Grizzlies, Warriors, Mavericks, Nuggets, Clippers, all of them," MacMahon said.
The LA Lakers did get a lot of attention throughout the season despite their shortcomings on the basketball court. The media barely talked about contenders such as the Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat and more. At the end of the day, the Lakers failed due to their poor play, with the injuries being part of the game.
The LA Lakers were not the only team struck by the injury bug this season
LeBron James and Anthony Davis missed a chunk of the season, but other teams mentioned by Tim MacMahon also had to go through the injury bug. The Grizzlies had to get by without Ja Morant for more than 20 games. The Warriors were without Klay Thompson at the start of the season, then lost Draymond Green in January and Steph Curry just two weeks ago.
The Mavericks had to weather an ankle injury to Luka Doncic, while the Nuggets were carried by Nikola Jokic since Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. were out. The LA Clippers still made the play-in tournament without Kawhi Leonard all season long and Paul George was out for the majority of it.
Kawhi Leonard has played 0 games.
Paul George has played 29 games.
The Clippers duo played 0 games together.
LeBron James has played 56 games.
Anthony Davis has played 40 games.
Russell Westbrook has played 78 games.
The Lakers trio played 21 games together.
In the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat are still the number one team despite injuries to most of their starting unit. The Chicago Bulls were ravaged by injuries, as well as the Cleveland Cavaliers. Still, the Bulls are in the playoffs and the Cavs are in the play-in tournament.
The LA Lakers were just a disaster from the get go as Russell Westbrook didn't fit in with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Add the fact that the Lakers surrounded their new Big 3 with a bunch of veterans that don't play defense. At the end of the day, they didn't accomplish the things they set out to do.
What's next for the LA Lakers?
The LA Lakers are back on the drawing board and they don't have a lot of options. Russell Westbrook and his $47 million contract is almost untradeable, while the team's cap space is very limited. LeBron James has recently started hinting about Cleveland and Golden State, but it's a mistake to trade him.
Anthony Davis is the team's best asset, but his value could be at an all-time low. The head coach will be vacant soon, so there's a lot of things need to be done this summer. LeBron, AD and the rest of the team should take the offseason off and get back on the drawing board.