"LeBron has held up his end" - Nick Wright believes that LA Lakers have botched their end of the bargain in the LeBron James deal
As a historically dominant NBA and Western Conference powerhouse, the Los Angeles Lakers have been accused of botching up their end of the bargain after acquiring LeBron James.
Sports media personality Nick Wright spoke on Fox Sports' morning show First Things First about how Los Angeles have failed to capitalize on the greatness of LeBron James. Wright said:
"LeBron has held up his end. They won the title and Anthony Davis isn't there without him. Now it's up to management to hold up their end and they're not. I think it's embarrassing for the Lakers."
Wright continued:
"I can't believe how badly Lakers management is bungling this. They got into the LeBron James business. Everyone knows what that comes with. You win championships, you are one of the most relevant if not the most relevant team in the entire league and there is a lot of other stuff that comes with it. They got the championship, they got Anthony Davis. This is what comes with LeBron. You need to win now, you need to say screw the future, you need to pay the luxury tax."
"I can't believe how badly Lakers management is bungling this. They got into the LeBron James business. ... You got the good — a title, AD — this is the bad. LeBron has held up his end. It's up to management to hold up theirs & they're not. It's embarrassing." — @getnickwright https://t.co/vObt3tgINp
Will LeBron James figure things out for the LA Lakers?
With All-Star Weekend behind us, more than half the season is over and the Lakers have yet to justify their championship aspirations.
This is a poorly constructed roster that has been struggling all season and will not, in all likelihood, even make the postseason if they don't improve.
James has been blamed tremendously for the roster that has been put together this season. While some of the blame is rightfully attributed to him, Rob Pelinka, the general manager of the Los Angeles, also has to be held responsible.
LeBron James records his 23rd consecutive game with 25 points or more, tying Joel Embiid for the longest such streak this season.
He also ties Elgin Baylor for the longest single-season streak of 25 points or more by a Laker. https://t.co/ZCAd7RGpuy
One of the primary reasons for the Lakers' struggles has been the disappointing performance of Russell Westbrook.
The former Oklahoma City Thunder superstar has been leaking turnovers, and the pace with which he plays has been detrimental to the NBA's oldest roster.
He is averaging 4.0 turnovers this season. His acquisition was supposed to ease the workload on James but has ended up compounding it.
This, coupled with the number of games that Anthony Davis has missed this season, has ended up contributing to more problems for Los Angeles than seasons prior.
The only way forward for the team is by putting Westbrook with the second unit. That way, he can utilize his pace and energy to punish the opponent's rotation while being surrounded by shooters and spacing the floor better.
This will allow the Los Angeles to do the same with LeBron James as they can surround him with shooters while creating a pathway to the rim for King James to attack.
Either way, the Los Angeles (27-31) need to figure things out quickly if they want to make some serious noise in the postseason this year.