Los Angeles Lakers: No Chemistry Equals No Success

Let’s face it, ladies and gentlemen: this year’s Los Angeles Lakers team is horrible.

The team is currently the worst in the Western Conference with a 2-12 record and ranks at the bottom of the league in almost every category on both sides of the ball. Rumors have already begun to swirl about coaching changes, role adjustments and even trades.

It’s no longer due to the fact that the team does not possess players with some form of talent. Youngsters like Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle have been consistent contributors offensively for the team, while rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell is starting to show signs of growth, averaging 12 points a game in the last five contests and upping his rebounds per game and field goal percentage.

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Newly acquired center Roy Hibbert has been every bit of the rim protector the team hoped he would be with 2.3 blocks per game and has even contributed some offensively.

The blame can only partially be placed on the sudden downfall of one Kobe Bryant this season, who capped his astoundingly poor play by going 1-for-14 from the field against the undefeated Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. It can’t even fully be placed on the stubborn shoulders of Byron Scott, who continues to let Bryant play 30+ minutes and has just started to loosen the reins on Russell.

However, none of that is the reason for the Lakers’ woes. The Lakers are horrible this year because…simply put, this team just doesn’t play well together.

Nov 22, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell (1) and forward Kobe Bryant (24) on the bench in the second half of the game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

This lack of team cohesiveness has been at the center of the team’s failure and is evident in the way they play. They are currently ranked in the bottom five in the NBA in team assists per game with only 18.6 a night and lead the league in isolation plays called a game, running them 10.8 percent of the time, according to NBA.com.

This is a recipe for disaster on a team that, while talented, has few players that are able to efficiently create offense for themselves, which results in their league-worst 41.2 percent field goal percentage.

The missing chemistry is even more evident on defense, where Byron Scott’s trademark ideal of teammates being accountable for each other on defense and providing help seems lost on this Laker team that’s chock full of players who are not touted for their individual defensive abilities.

Aside from Hibbert and the occasional injection of a 36-year-old Metta World Peace into the lineup, the team doesn’t have much success with individual matchups on defense, which makes the lack of decent team defense all the more glaring. In no other game was this atrocious defense more apparent than the 34-point loss the Lakers suffered at the hands of the defending champs.

In this highlight reel, one can see multiple Lakers players standing around on several plays while the Warriors dish to wide open three point shooters or lob the ball clear over a statue-esque Roy Hibbert for a Andrew Bogut or Festus Ezeli slam. On many of the Warriors’ scoring possessions, Lakers defenders were either slow to help or contest shots…or they just didn’t do anything at all.

Another notable difference is evident in the differing styles of offensive play as well, as the Warriors are always seen making multiple passes before a basket and working to get easy shots, while the Lakers players are almost always seen scoring on contested looks in isolation.

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In the Warriors, one can also see a perfect example of what these Lakers are not: a cohesive team with otherworldly chemistry and players that rely as much upon each other as their own individual talents. Golden State has shown the league how dangerous a team that truly buys in and plays for and with each other can be — and the Lakers are struggling because they are a far cry from that, with a roster full of isolation players.

Granted, the young core that the Lakers are counting on to carry the day in the future are still working at developing their own individual talents, let alone figuring each other out. In addition, cultivating a culture and chemistry like that of the Warriors takes a lot of time and sacrifice and doesn’t happen overnight.

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However, in order to deliver on the promise of these young potential stars and return this franchise to sustainable success, the coaches and players must make sure that they foster a culture where they can develop cohesiveness with each other and begin to truly play as a team within the next few years.

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