Los Angeles Lakers: Could This Be Worst Season Ever?
By David Ramil
The Los Angeles Lakers are stinking up the NBA already and Las Vegas is taking notice.
Some big numbers stand out when looking at the Los Angeles Lakers this season, especially in context of their historic greatness. 67 seasons. 60 playoff appearances. 16 championships.
And 29 wins.
That’s the projected number the Lakers will win this season, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers. That would eclipse the total “achieved” by last season’s team by two, a dismal record of 27-55 that was the worst in the franchise’s history.
After just two games,it looks like things could sink even lower this season.
As per the piece in USA Today, Jeff Sherman of the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook had actually started the Lakers at 31 wins then dropped that total several times as “money from the so-called ‘wise guys’ came in on the under.” Sherman continues:
"“They just look like they’re going to have a tough time in the West. The way we view Kobe (Bryant) now with the type of injury he had and the time missed that his game is different than what it was. There’s no question some of his abilities have been diminished by injuries and age. Plus they’re going to have a lot of issues on defense when playing young, quick teams.”"
There’s no way of knowing how this season plays out, of course. As explained in the piece, no one thought the San Antonio Spurs would win last season’s title and the Miami Heat, projected to win 60 games after clinching the 2013 title, went on just 54 victories.
But you could actually consider the Lakers 2013-14 season a success considering all the adversity they faced. The previous offseason was tumultuous one, highlighted by the departure of Dwight Howard. Although not completely unexpected, his decision to join the Houston Rockets seemed more like an attack on the Lakers and the crumbling foundation of the team’s front office and coaching staff.
Things got worse because of the lingering injuries to Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, hanging a cloud of doubt over the team. But former coach Mike D’Antoni was able to scrap together 29 victories with a limited Pau Gasol and journeyman players like Chris Kaman, Jodie Meeks, and Robert Sacre. With stars Bryant and Nash out for a good chunk of the season, these rotation players had something to prove. Several of them (including Gasol, Kaman, Meeks and Kent Bazemore) were able to parlay their accomplishments into free agency success, signing new deals with other teams. Even the unflappable Nick Young got a new deal out of that lost season.
While many fans and supporters believed that a healthy Bryant would turn the team around this season, things have quickly fallen apart. New coach Byron Scott, a popular former Laker himself, has been under attack for his archaic coaching philosophies that seem out of place in today’s NBA. Nash’s career might be over, and his farewell season of promise ended even before it began. Couple that with rookie Julius Randle‘s season-ending leg injury and this year has self-destructed after just two games (both losses, of course).
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Blind devotees of the Church of Bryant will rise quickly to proclaim that Mr. Five-Ringsssss could do it all, even carrying a sad team that counts Bulls castoff Carlos Boozer and flash-in-the-pan sensation Jeremy Lin as their best complementary players. But for all his ability and grim determination, even the Hall-of-Famer can’t give this team what it lacks: hope.
Talent accounts for a lot in sports, but the mental aspect of it is just as important as the physical one that leads to success. This team will have little to fight for as the losses keep mounting and with each soul-sucking display of ineptitude even Bryant will start to succumb. He’ll have great nights, a sheer product of his incomparable will to win. But with a less strong-minded supporting cast, the wins that matter will be hard to come by.
With a deep Western Conference that features 10-11 strong contenders, the Lakers will fall victim to teams that need every victory to count because – unlike Los Angeles – they’ll have the playoffs to look forward to.
There might be brighter days ahead for the Lakers but they’ll be too far in the distance to make a difference this season, which will be the worst one in franchise history.