Lakers 8-2 in last 10 games

[Street Hunger]

Are the Lakers alive for real, or just temporarily?

[WhiteKyrie]

It’s working rn. Roles have been accepted.

AD - best player, feed him
LBJ - sidekick
Westbrick - off the bench 6th man

They could’ve easily won that Pacer game too

[Phoenix]

^ Only way to pump the brakes on the trainwreck. I'm wondering if Westbrook still gets traded, and/or if he's salvaged a few more years on his career by transitioning to a bench role. He can 'be Westbrook' in 25-30 minutes a night against opposing bench players and the Lakers will have the edge in most cases. This all depends of AD's health of course, but this is basically 2020 AD for the first time since.....2020.

[WhiteKyrie]

^ Only way to pump the brakes on the trainwreck. I'm wondering if Westbrook still gets traded, and/or if he's salvaged a few more years on his career by transitioning to a bench role. He can 'be Westbrook' in 25-30 minutes a night against opposing bench players and the Lakers will have the edge in most cases. This all depends of AD's health of course, but this is basically 2020 AD for the first time since.....2020.

Westbrick should’ve been coming off the bench the past 2 to 3 seasons. To be honest. The Lakers struggled with LeBron as the best player in 2019, 2021 and 2022 without AD or healthy AD. This is just another nail in the coffin that it was obvious to anyone without bias, that Anthony Davis was the Lakers best player since he got on the team and should’ve been having the offense flow through him … and LBJ in his decline playing off him.

[RRR3]

^ Only way to pump the brakes on the trainwreck. I'm wondering if Westbrook still gets traded, and/or if he's salvaged a few more years on his career by transitioning to a bench role. He can 'be Westbrook' in 25-30 minutes a night against opposing bench players and the Lakers will have the edge in most cases. This all depends of AD's health of course, but this is basically 2020 AD for the first time since.....2020.
I’m not sure why people think Westbrook has been good. His RAPTOR rating is godawful. He’s putting up a 48.9 TS% in a league that averages 57.5% (-8.6% rTS is absurdly bad) and he turns it over way too much. He’s just as horrible as he was last year he’s just doing less damage on the bench. AD is carrying hard right now considering LeBron hasn’t been very efficient or impactful either (crazy to say this about LeBron James but it had to happen one day)

[Phoenix]

Westbrick should’ve been coming off the bench the past 2 to 3 seasons. To be honest. The Lakers struggled with LeBron as the best player in 2019, 2021 and 2022 without AD or healthy AD. This is just another nail in the coffin that it was obvious to anyone without bias, that Anthony Davis was the Lakers best player since he got on the team and should’ve been having the offense flow through him … and LBJ in his decline playing off him.

He was legit in Washington by his standards ( as far as being a starter). His skillset was always completely redundant next to Lebron. What we saw in 2020 with AD being the leading scorer should have been the case going forward, but he couldn't retain health and it seemed like he lost a bit of edge coming off the chip. Maybe someone has whispered in his ear that 'hey man, it's time'( Lebron and Ham I guess), he's been pretty healthy *so far*, and maybe he was starting to take note of all the growing concerns about his status amongst the league's elite.

[WhiteKyrie]

He was legit in Washington by his standards ( as far as being a starter). His skillset was always completely redundant next to Lebron. What we saw in 2020 with AD being the leading scorer should have been the case going forward, but he couldn't retain health and it seemed like he lost a bit of edge coming off the chip. Maybe someone has whispered in his ear that 'hey man, it's time'( Lebron and Ham I guess), he's been pretty healthy *so far*, and maybe he was starting to take note of all the growing concerns about his status amongst the league's elite.

Maybe LeBron also was having trouble relinquishing alpha responsibility so he couldn’t shamelessly pad his stats. Did that thought ever crossed your mind as well? Maybe Anthony Davis was subjected to LeBrons micromanaging, and was forced to play out of position or not the primary scorer, The way LeBron needs in so desperately has done to everybody he’s ever played with of that type of stature? I think that’s probably most likely the case

[1987_Lakers]

Westbrick should’ve been coming off the bench the past 2 to 3 seasons. To be honest. The Lakers struggled with LeBron as the best player in 2019, 2021 and 2022 without AD or healthy AD. This is just another nail in the coffin that it was obvious to anyone without bias, that Anthony Davis was the Lakers best player since he got on the team and should’ve been having the offense flow through him … and LBJ in his decline playing off him.

No, LeBron was their best player in 2020.

[Phoenix]

I’m not sure why people think Westbrook has been good. His RAPTOR rating is godawful. He’s putting up a 48.9 TS% in a league that averages 57.5% (-8.6% rTS is absurdly bad) and he turns it over way too much. He’s just as horrible as he was last year he’s just doing less damage on the bench. AD is carrying hard right now considering LeBron hasn’t been very efficient or impactful either (crazy to say this about LeBron James but it had to happen one day)

Within the context of coming off the bench he's been better. His horrendous start to the season would have affected his advanced stats. A sub role is the best spot for him as far as mitigating his level of play nowadays.

[Phoenix]

Maybe LeBron also was having trouble relinquishing alpha responsibility so he couldn’t shamelessly pad his stats. Did that thought ever crossed your mind as well? Maybe Anthony Davis was subjected to LeBrons micromanaging, and was forced to play out of position or not the primary scorer, The way LeBron needs in so desperately has done to everybody he’s ever played with of that type of stature? I think that’s probably most likely the case

That may have been a the case, none of these guys are as great as they are without being driven by ego. Lebron has the all-time record in his sights, so in his mind he doesn't need to drop 25+ to get there now, easing the baton passing.

[WhiteKyrie]

That may have been a the case, none of these guys are as great as they are without being driven by ego.

Yeah but when you’re trying to win, you have to have self-awareness and a desire to place winning over selfish personal agendas

[Phoenix]

Yeah but when you’re trying to win, you have to have self-awareness and a desire to place winning over selfish personal agendas

Oh I'm not disagreeing with that in principle, I'm just saying when you've been 'the guy' for nearly two decades what should happen for the greater good isn't as obvious to them as it is to us. Or maybe it is but again....ego gets in the way. Lebron has realized that he's not going to catch Jordan in MVPs and most likely not chips, so his best argument is longevity and accumulated stats. All of these guys are weighing personal against the needs of the team.

[RRR3]

No, LeBron was their best player in 2020.
It’s coach aka samuraiswish. LeBron has ruined him mentally.

[bison]

LeSecondOption? Damn, sounds good to me!

Lebron is like a Scotty Pippan on steroids (both figuratively and literally)

[nineiron]

LeSecondOption? Damn, sounds good to me!

Lebron is like a Scotty Pippan on steroids (both figuratively and literally)

i guess so. Pippen's better defensively, but Lebron's better offensively.

either way, they are both top 75 players.

[RRR3]

He was legit in Washington by his standards ( as far as being a starter). His skillset was always completely redundant next to Lebron. What we saw in 2020 with AD being the leading scorer should have been the case going forward, but he couldn't retain health and it seemed like he lost a bit of edge coming off the chip. Maybe someone has whispered in his ear that 'hey man, it's time'( Lebron and Ham I guess), he's been pretty healthy *so far*, and maybe he was starting to take note of all the growing concerns about his status amongst the league's elite.
He was bad by his standards in Washington too. There’s a huge difference between the player he’s been since 2018 and the guy he was from 2011-17.

[ImKobe]

I’m not sure why people think Westbrook has been good. His RAPTOR rating is godawful. He’s putting up a 48.9 TS% in a league that averages 57.5% (-8.6% rTS is absurdly bad) and he turns it over way too much. He’s just as horrible as he was last year he’s just doing less damage on the bench. AD is carrying hard right now considering LeBron hasn’t been very efficient or impactful either (crazy to say this about LeBron James but it had to happen one day)

Because he's not shooting as much and he's the one who got AD going in the first place after Bran got injured. He's basically playing the Rondo role now and it's worked well so far. Rondo wasn't efficient either but at least he got AD the ball where he needed it, that's what Russ has been doing in this stretch. 8 of AD's 22 buckets were assisted by Russ in the last game. Russ has averaged 8.8 ast to 3.3 TO in this 10-game stretch. His stats might suck for the season overall & he might be a liability in crunch time but he's been a positive on the court during this stretch. He was a terrible fit as a starter & still is when they're closing out games but as a bench player he's not a cancer for this team.

[Lakers Legend#32]

We're Back Baby!

[Full Court]

Lakers have one of the top teams in the league. I've been saying that since before the pre-season, but you all wouldn't listen. :lol

If they can start gelling and find a way to manage LeDeadWeight, they can be contenders.

[SATAN]

Maybe LeBron also was having trouble relinquishing alpha responsibility so he couldn’t shamelessly pad his stats. Did that thought ever crossed your mind as well? Maybe Anthony Davis was subjected to LeBrons micromanaging, and was forced to play out of position or not the primary scorer, The way LeBron needs in so desperately has done to everybody he’s ever played with of that type of stature? I think that’s probably most likely the case

You are mentally ill.