As a title favorite at the beginning of the season, the Lakers' performance this season is a mess, the third giant Wei Shao has so far wandered outside the system, and a number of role players have not been able to play their due role.
Coupled with the two core James and thick eyebrow brothers are plagued by injuries, the Lakers, who have stumbled all the way, not only can not launch another attack on the championship, but even most likely miss the playoff competition.
After the last loss to the Nuggets, the Lakers have fallen behind the tenth Spurs in front of them by two wins, and since there are only the last 4 rounds left in the regular season, the Lakers can only expect the Spurs to lose at least 3 games before the team has a chance to enter the play-offs.
Considering that the Lakers' next four opponents are the Suns, Warriors, Thunder and Nuggets, and the Spurs are the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Warriors and Lone Rangers, the chances of the Lakers wanting to qualify are slim.
Because according to the Lakers' current 6-game losing streak, even if the Spurs give the opportunity to lose 3 games in the remaining games, or even lose all 4 games, the Lakers may not be able to win 3 or 4 wins.
Especially with the team reporter Dave McMenamin exposed that James's ankle injury showed no signs of improvement, is likely to miss the game against the Suns, for this reason, the US media also gave the Probability of the Lakers to advance, the probability of entering the playoffs is only a pitiful 6.1%, and the probability of the playoffs is as low as 0.2%.
Since the team has the super big three of Westbrook + James + thick eyebrows, if the team does not even get a play-off place in the end, then this Lakers team will become the laughing stock in the eyes of fans and the media for a long time in the future.
You can refer to the F4 lineup created by Kobe Bryant, even if it reaches the finals, it is still regarded as a negative model by the outside world, and the Lakers have stumbled into the playoffs after the Lakers have formed F4, which has also become the laughing stock of the outside world.
Therefore, it is conceivable that the three giants in the current lineup face great psychological pressure, in which the thick eyebrows are aggrieved, the US media named the manager, and the Lakers celebrity magician bluntly said that it was a pity for Old Zhan.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Brother Thick Eyebrow talked about his injury and mentality, and bluntly said that after being injured, whether he fights or not, he will be criticized.
When they are injured and do not play, the outside world will criticize them for not leading the team forward, and even labeled as "fragile", but people who have played know that when injuries hit, those are things they can't control.
If you choose to play with an injury, then there will be people who accuse the coach of not letting the players play with injuries, in short, no matter what they do, they will be criticized, but they have really worked hard, but they have suffered two injuries that cannot be controlled at all.
After that, Brother Thick Eyebrow also explained the reason why he came out with an injury, because he and his team did not want to give up, and wanted to give themselves a chance like last season, for which he was willing to bear a certain pain.
As long as you have 60%, or 70% of the state, then you will not choose to sit off the court, because 70% of your state is also better than the 100% state of many players.
Shortly after the thick-browed brother spoke out, the Lakers celebrity magician talked about the Lakers' situation and James's problems in the show "Get up" and told a big truth.
The Magic took the lead in criticizing James, arguing that James was responsible for the loss of this season because they had a chance to get DeRozan, but James pushed Westbrook's deal to put an end to everything.
If the team chooses DeRozan, then the team has the space to keep Caruso, do not have to trade Pop, and then use Kuzma to exchange Hield, they have every chance to reach the Western Conference Finals.
But after the criticism, the magician also felt sorry for James, because this season James has played very good statistics, but the team may not even be able to play the playoffs.
This means that James has wasted another season, he has few seasons to waste, and the Lakers need to build a championship lineup by his side as soon as possible.
In the end, the magician admitted that if you want to find someone to carry the pot for the current situation, then it must be the coach Vogel, and the players of course also need to bear certain responsibilities, after all, James has played so well.
StatMuse, a well-known data website in the United States, also pointed the finger at Vogel, listing the ranking of lakers defensive data for three seasons since Vogel took charge.
In the 2019-20 season, the Lakers ranked third in the league in defensive efficiency, and the opponent averaged fourth fewest points per game in the league, and after entering the 2020-21 season, the defensive efficiency jumped to the first place in the league, and the opponent averaged second fewest points per game in the league.
But this season, the Lakers' defensive efficiency is only 22nd, and the opponent averages the fifth most points per game in the league, which is also the fundamental reason why the Lakers' competitiveness has declined so seriously.