"This team is broken" - Podcaster slams Lakers' handling of coaches while highlighting their fading 'basketball character'
Jason Timpf, the host of the "Hoops Tonight" podcast berated the LA Lakers on Thursday's episode of the show. LeBron James and company have sputtered to a 12-10 start in their first 22 games and their most recent loss is their biggest one of the season so far.
Their latest loss occurred on Wednesday at the hands of the Miami Heat, who beat them by 41 (134-93). Following that loss, Timpf didn't just flame the players, he went on to say that the problem lies deep within the franchise.
The "Hoops Tonight" host said that he was done with the Lakers.
"This team doesn't have the basketball character necessary to compete for an NBA championship," Timpf said. "There is an illness within this team that goes too deep to be fixed by a trade or a team meeting or any sort of potential remedy. I think this team is broken. This is the fourth consecutive season under three different coaches that I've seen a Laker team completely lose the will to fight."
The Lakers had a promising start to this year's campaign as they went 3-0 in the first three games. The first time that they went undefeated in the first three games of the season since LeBron James signed with the franchise.
However, their hot start did not last as they went 1-4 in their next five games. They would bounce back by winning six straight after but that hot streak was once again halted after they went 2-6 in their last eight games.
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Lakers stars own up to 41-point loss against the Miami Heat
Following the LA Lakers' blowout loss to the Miami Heat on Wednesday, the media got to speak with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
During the interviews, one member of the media asked James if the players have a level of understanding of what they're being asked to do.
"We've been preaching it since July," James responded. "It's been preached since July so there should be an understanding. July, August, then we got September, absolutely. It's not our coaches, definitely on us for sure." (3:35-3:55).
Davis shared the same sentiment that James had when he spoke to the media. The big man said he was not playing well in this most recent stretch and his struggles have been tough on the team.
"Defensively, a lot of breakdowns," Davis said. "It's on us, it's on us players to be honest. We're getting schemes. Schemes are on point we just got to go out and do it and execute them. I just got to step up for the team." (6:35-6:56)
The Lakers have now had back-to-back losses where they allowed the team to reach triple-digit scoring while failing to do the same.
On Monday, they faced the Minnesota Timberwolves and lost by 29 points (109-80). In that game, LeBron James scored 10 points on a 4-for-16 shooting clip. He also missed all four shots he attempted from downtown. James had a better individual performance against the Heat, scoring 29 points (12-for-18), grabbing five rebounds and dishing eight assists.
As for Anthony Davis, he scored 12 and grabbed 11 rebounds against the Timberwolves. Then against the Heat, he was held to single digits on both those stats, registering only eight points and seven boards.