As disappointing as this season has been for the Los Angeles Lakers, fans need to pull their fingers away from their position just above the panic button.
Yes, this is not how most of us expected the Los Angeles Lakers‘ first season with LeBron James to go. While most weren’t bamboozled into believing they were title contenders, it just made sense for them to be headed for the postseason, right?
Technically the Lakers aren’t out of it yet, but the odds of their season ending on April 9 increase with every loss. Regardless of what the outcome is, folks everywhere will find one scapegoat or another for the franchise’s failure to live up the preseason hype. In the end, though, we must admit that this isn’t as big of a surprise as fans are making it out to be.
Is it sad that, in his introductory season with Los Angeles, James will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2005? Absolutely. When he originally signed, it was like a foregone conclusion that the Lakers were playoff-bound. And yet, at this moment, there’s no guarantee they’ll even match last year’s win total of 36.
This all looks bad — we know that. It feels like a wasted season in what could be one of the final years before James truly begins to decline. The young core didn’t answer the call, the coaching was crap and no blockbuster deal came together. The sky is falling in Laker Land!
Okay, enough of that nonsense. Life goes on and, as the old saying goes, there’s always next year. So instead of sitting there panicking over a lost season, why not recognize that it’s pointless to do so? We knew plenty heading into the 2018-19 campaign that suggested it wouldn’t be all sunshine and rainbows for the Lakers.