In reality, there are very few games that satisfy most fans, but the Lakers did it.
If you don't like the Lakers, today is naturally a happy day; those who like the Lakers can also say "finally liberated."
On April 6, Beijing time, with the Lakers losing 110-121 to the Suns away from home, they officially missed the play-offs, and only the last three regular season games remained on this season's journey.
After the All-Star Game, it's no exaggeration to say that the Lakers are the worst in the league. After all, they have only won 4 of their 21 games, falling directly from ninth to 11th in the West, and completely goodbye to the playoffs.
After the game, Lakers star James Worthy commented on the Lakers in the show: "It's unbelievable that the Lakers didn't even score the playoffs, and when they first formed last summer, they were seen as a big favorite to win the championship." ”
"The only thing I want to say is that they didn't win at least 7-11 games that they should have won, and in those games they often took a big lead in the first half and then reversed in the second half. You'll have to look at the footage of these games and focus on solving the problems. ”
Worthy is right, after all, according to the well-known data site ESPN Stats & Info, the odds for the Lakers not to qualify for the playoffs given by the betting site before the start of the season are 1:16.
Simply put, if you take 100 bets on the Lakers into the playoffs, your 100 will be gone.
From the most luxurious lineup in history to the threshold of the playoffs, the Lakers' sunset red team has recreated the Lakers' nine-year dream of superstardom.
Such a story actually began in the preseason, when the Lakers lost all six preseason games. The last time the Lakers lost all in the preseason was back in the 2012-13 season.
At that time, the Lakers formed a lineup of Kobe, Howard, Nash and Gasol, with 0 wins and 8 losses in the preseason. That season, the Lakers' regular season record was 45 wins and 37 losses to the 7th place in the West, and the first round of the playoffs was swept by the Spurs.
History is always strikingly similar, if you turn back the time by 9 years, in 2004 the Lakers also formed the original F4 of O'Neal, Kobe, Malone and Payton, but they did not win the championship in the end.
9 years and 9 years, to the 2021-22 season, when the Lakers gathered James, Thick Eyebrows, Westbrook, Anthony and other stars, the star brilliance of the team alone was no less than the previous two F4 combinations, but this time their championship dream was shattered again.
Of course, you can blame the problem on injuries. The highest appearance this season was won by Westbrook, playing 78 games.
James played only 56 games, Thick Brow played only 40 games, and the three of them played only 21 games together.
The long-term injuries of James and Thick Brow have also forced the Lakers to adjust their lineup many times.
According to statistics, the Lakers have changed 39 different starting lineups this season, as Davis said after the game, their starting lineup sets are more than the team's 31 wins.
If you look at the current Lakers ten years later, it is easy to blame the problem on injuries. Just like the Lakers' two F4 combinations, they eventually blamed the problem on injuries.
Payton recalled in an interview the reasons for the composition of the original F4, saying: "When I signed with Carl [Malone] and the Lakers, I went to Shake, and Carl heard that I was coming. For the four of us, it could be the first super team we've ever played for. ”
But the team didn't play a devastating performance, but lost 4-1 to the grassroots Pistons in the Finals. Payton explained the loss of that season this way: "The biggest reason is that Karl Malone is injured. ”
Malone missed 40 games, O'Neal missed 15 and Kobe Bryant missed 17 games. I was the only guy who played 82 games, and then we had some guys on the bench who couldn't figure out what was going on at all. ”
Payton said: "The Spurs were No. 3 in the West that year, we won them in the first round, and then we ended up in the Finals. Malone tried to make a comeback, but injured his knee. Bryant and the others were tied up in their own affairs. We had a strong team in Detroit who played all the way and eventually beat us. ”
You changed the name of this word to Thick Eyebrows, James and others, is it seamless?
By the 2012-13 season, the Lakers' second-generation F4 could have a similar reason. Nash missed 32 games due to injury, Gasol missed 33 games, Kobe Bryant and Howard also missed some games due to injuries, and F4 played only 286 minutes together.
In the 2012-13 season, the Lakers won 0-8 in the preseason, and after the first 10 games of the regular season, the team has changed coaches twice.
With only five games in the regular season, Mike Brown was dismissed on the grounds that the Lakers executives felt the urgency of winning the championship because of the age and physical condition of the superstar. Brown thus became the third fastest coach in NBA history to end classes in a single season. After a symbolic transition of 5 games for Bixtaf Jr., D'Antoni took office.
These are all stories from 9 years ago, and the memory is somewhat vague, but this season the current situation of the Lakers is understood by everyone, coupled with the rise of social media, everyone can almost see the whole process of the Lakers' decline in detail.
Last summer, the Lakers gave up signing Demar DeRozan, and their dedication to reinforcements can be seen from the withdrawal of The Barty Hield's deal. So when they exchanged 33-year-old Wei Shao, the Lakers completely locked the salary space.
So Munch, Ariza, Howard, Anthony and other basic salaries filled the remaining space of the Lakers. Can they fight? Can't fight, don't have the ability to know it.
Therefore, the Lakers' game offense is often constipated, and the defense is a daily crotch.
Offensively, their offensive space is too limited, starting center Howard has no outside projection, starting big forward Davis has a serious decline in projection, starting point guard Wei Shao has no projection, and important substitute Tucker also has no projection. Count, you can't always put James on the list of shooters.
At the defensive end, the Lakers are even more problematic, the outside line can not be defended to break through, the inner line has no height, and the Lakers' defense will shatter when it is touched.
In addition, there are also many infighting in the Lakers. At the beginning of the season, Thick Brow had clashed with Howard on the sidelines, and although both sides said afterwards that they had spoken out and it was no big deal to make a few words on the court, no one knew what the argument was.
If the two of them are still a small fight, then Vogel and Wei Shao are in constant conflict. ESPN reported that at a video analysis meeting, There were some tense moments between Wei Shao and Vogel, and some Lakers people hoped that Vogel could arrange for Wei Shao to play as a substitute, but Vogel did not listen to suggestions.
"The Athletic" also said in an insider report that Westbrook has a poor relationship with the Lakers coaching staff. Before the trade deadline, the Lakers coaching staff had pushed the Lakers to send away Wei Shao, but because the Lakers needed to post the first round of the pick, and the Lakers were not sure how Wall had not played for a season, the transaction was not completed.
At the same time, the media also exposed the intervention of Jenny Bass and girlfriend Linda Lambis in the management of the Lakers.
Of course, this is not to list the seven deadly sins for the Lakers, but just to tell you that the Lakers' accelerated silence is not just a simple cause of injury.
That brings us to the next topic, will they be better next year? At least for now, it's hard.
The first is the Lakers' salary structure, the three top salaries of the three giants, the team's space locked, and if you want to break the must trade off one of them, then everyone thinks of Wei Shao.
Wei Shao has every reason to want to go, after all, a season not only carries his own pot, his family is also scolded, and a person who is so proud has been consumed by the Lakers.
Playing ball is nothing more than a job, who wants to be scolded every day to make money.
But the problem is that Wei Shao's annual salary of 47 million next season will definitely be executed, but such a large contract is difficult to deal with, from the Lakers' point of view, even if it is sold, it may be a loss-making transaction, and a bunch of garbage contracts have been received.
For example, according to the analysis of "The Athletic" expert Hollinger, the most likely to take over Westbrook this summer is the Thunder, but the Lakers must complete the transaction by July 1. Because after July 1, Alexander's maximum salary contract will take effect, and the Thunder will lose the salary space to eat Westbrook's contract.
Hollinger analyzed that the Lakers can send Westbrook, 2027 and 2029 protected first-round picks for Favors, Jerome, KenRidge Williams.
What is the difference between changing this way and not changing? Not much difference.
Don't think about laying off Wei Shao, if you cut Wei Shao's salary will be divided into three years into the Lakers' next 3 season salary caps, each season is about 15.7 million, even if the peaceful breakup, the Lakers salary at least 10 million upward "dead money".
If you think about the Ruhr-Deng contract that has just been concluded, you know how sad it is.
As for trading thick eyebrows, with the crispy properties of thick eyebrows in the past two years, it is also difficult to sell at a good price, and selling at a low price is bound to be a blood loss.
So trading old Zhan? How bold people are, how productive the land is, and before the Lakers do this, they must nod their heads to Old Zhan.
Talking about draft picks, the Lakers' draft picks this year are likely to belong to the Pelicans, not only that, the Lakers will not be able to have or decide on their own first-round draft picks in the next four years.
Either the draft pick was sent, or the one with the lower pick was exchanged, until 2026, the Lakers will have their own first-round draft picks.
So, if you want to say that the Lakers can have any big moves in the offseason, it is probably to change a coach, and other opportunities are not big.
But from the team's point of view, it is not necessary to win the championship every year or to succeed in the championship team, playing more beautiful balls, selling more tickets, and brushing more feelings is also a success.
After all, the Lakers' original goal has been basically achieved, with two years of absence from the playoffs for a year of championship, think about whether it is earned?
After today's game, the teams in the top ten in the East and West, play-offs, and playoffs have basically been determined.
The top ten miles in the East are the Heat, Celtics, Bucks, 76ers, Raptors, Bulls, Cavaliers, Nets, Hawks, and Hornets; the top ten in the West are the Suns, Grizzlies, Warriors, Lone Rangers, Jazz, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Clippers, Pelicans, and Spurs.
The only suspense is who can advance directly to the playoffs between the Nuggets and Timberwolves. In the next few regular season games, it is time for everyone to fight for acting.
Past reading: The NBA is walking around the basketball game, and the most iconic coach is retired
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