"Stop it, LeBron, you can't blame the Lakers for anything, this mismash is your doing!" - NBA analyst goes OFF after LeBron James' IG post hinted at LA Lakers taking him for granted
LeBron James and the LA Lakers are off to a humiliating 0-4 start, which could be even worse in several days. The team has so many holes to plug that it might even sink without contending for the playoffs for the second straight season.
After the Lakers’ fourth straight loss, “King James” posted on his Instagram account that he has been taken for granted. While it could mean different things, most basketball analysts contend that it was the four-time MVP’s subtle shot at the team’s front office.
Rob Parker, on “The Odd Couple” podcast, showed no mercy to LeBron James’ passive-aggressive message:
“He’s acting like they’re taking him for granted and they don’t wanna do anything for him? All they’ve done is bend over backwards for LeBron James since he got to LA! They’ve got to be gymnasts at this point, Rob Pelinka, everybody.
“Stop it LeBron, you can’t blame the Lakers for anything. This mishmash is your doing, you did this! This is what you wanted. Now, eat it, you made the mess, now eat it and stop blaming other people. The Lakers have done enough for you.
(Starts at the 1:49 mark)
In the summer of 2019, the LA Lakers mortgaged their future for former New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis. General manager Rob Pelinka reportedly worked on the deal due to LeBron James’ push to acquire another bona fide superstar to help him carry the team.
The move promptly delivered banner No. 17 to the Lakers to tie the Boston Celtics for the most titles in NBA history. Two years after AD’s arrival and the Lakers struggling, Pelinka traded for Russell Westbrook.
Reports suggest that the Lakers could have had DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry or Buddy Hield instead of “Russ.” These players would have been a better fit around LeBron James than the ball-dominant Westbrook. James supposedly used his influence to change Pelinka’s mind to get the former MVP point guard.
Over the past year now, the Lakers have been trying to trade Westbrook and undo the mistake. They’re nowhere near close to solving the problem until maybe next year’s trade deadline.
If the reports are true, then LeBron James’ claim that he’s been taken for granted by the Lakers is simply not true. The problem that they are in right now is in large part because of what he wanted for the Lakers.
There’s no easy solution to the mess LeBron James and the LA Lakers are in
The LA Lakers are bad with or without Russell Westbrook. It has been made abundantly clear in the team’s 110-99 loss to the Denver Nuggets when Mr. Triple-Double sat out the game due to hamstring tightness.
The Lakers' biggest concern this season has been their inability to shoot. They are a historically bad 3-point shooting team. They’re also near or at the bottom of almost every offensive metric early into the season.
Trading Westbrook could improve the Lakers' roster. The most popular trade available right now is supposedly with the Indiana Pacers for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner. LA will have to move Westbrook and the coveted 2027 and 2029 first-round picks.
The Lakers overpaid for AD (when they had all the leverage to make a better trade), refused to include THT in a deal for Kyle Lowry and made the bonkers Westbrook trade when other options (Hield or, you know, do nothing) made more sense. That’s why they are in this mess.
The two could legitimately start for the LA Lakers to surround LeBron James with more balance, shooting and size. But it’s an improvement that could only help the team push for a playoff spot. Buddy Hield won’t completely address their shooting woes.
Lonnie Walker, Patrick Beverley, Anthony Davis and LeBron James have been so inept from beyond the arc that opponents almost hilariously leave them to shoot.
All the changes they’re looking at could also go down the drain if James or Davis suffer an injury.