Creating a blame pie for the horrid state of the Los Angeles Lakers
By Cal Durrett
Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James
Placing blame on LeBron James might come as a surprise, considering he’s still one of the best players in the NBA and, at age 37, is close to breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time NBA scoring record. That being said, James does play a part in the Lakers’ current mess. It’s no secret that James uses his star power and leverage to get whatever team he’s on to make roster moves.
That makes him an unofficial assistant general manager, and oftentimes, those moves backfire, as has been the case with the Lakers. While Palinka gets most of the blame for actually making the Westbrook trade, he surely ran that decision by James, and James assuredly gave his blessing. Had James declined, the Lakers would be in a better situation than they are now.
Also, the same could be said about the Anthony Davis trade. Of course, that trade led to them winning a championship in 2020, but the Lakers gave up a historic haul at the time to get him. Without James pressing so hard to get Davis, perhaps the Lakers could’ve kept an asset or two in the negotiation process.
Now, the team faces pressure to make win-now moves to appease James, even though he is only signed through next season. If it weren’t for James, the Lakers likely wouldn’t even consider giving up either of their remaining tradeable first-round picks to offload Westbrook, but they may have to in order to replenish the roster that James has helped deplete. As a result, he earns a healthy 25% of the blame pie.