lebron/luka pairing was a FAILURE in 2025 due to weak 50 wins & 1st Round upset loss

[3ba11]

Lebron was also a massive negative and the only negative on the team after Luka arrived in March and April, and then another massive negative in the playoffs... So it was a horrible fit because Lebron is a bad off-ball player that simply "looks to go downhill upon the catch" according to the T'Wolves coach - he doesn't move off screens to facilitate ball movement like the elite off-ball play required of dynasties (Curry, MJ, Shaq, Duncan).

Btw, an all-timer joining a top 3 player like Luka has only happened 4 other times with Magic/Kareem, Curry/KD, and AD/Lebron, but notice how Lebron is the only guy that couldn't produce goat teams or dynasties... Instead, he mostly lost every year... Any all-timer like Lebron alongside Luka should win 60-70 games every year and the title.

[SouBeachTalents]

OP’s life was a FAILURE

[3ba11]

OP’s life was a FAILURE

I'm multi-tasking while you're hating.. lol... and deflecting/avoiding (that you fell for a fraud).. sucks to be you (a fraud victim)

[Axe]

OP’s life was a FAILURE

[Full Court]

^Stinky biatch is upset about his hero LeShrivel having yet another FAILURE season.

[1987_Lakers]

OP’s life was a FAILURE

Ouch

[3ba11]

Ouch

I'm sure you thought "50 wins and the 3 seed... Pretty good for the goat and a top 3 guy"

[Full Court]

I'm sure you thought "50 wins and the 3 seed... Pretty good for the goat and a top 3 guy"

[Phoenix]

OP’s life was a FAILURE

[StrongLurk]

We've already proven OP wrong many times on this topic.

Lebron's assisted scoring rate was massive in the playoffs with Luka and he was very efficient scoring, along with being the best defender in the entire series lol.

Meanwhile Kobe was consistently in the low 20's/30s during his playoff runs for assisted scoring rate.

But yeah, OP's life is a failure. Copy/pasting wrong information over and over again doesn't magically make it correct.

[Tavr]

LeBron being a "negative" doesnt get brought up enough. You'll hear a certain contingent eulogize his statline, but totally ignore the fact he really doesnt have impact. LeBron is 40 and some of us actually realize that, unlike his fans who still think he's moving mountains.

[ImKobe]

No, the experiment was a failure because they failed to get a big man after trading AD.. There were options at the trade deadline and they chose not to make any moves other than that botched Mark Williams trade, which was a stupid move to begin with.

Yes, Lakers performed better statistically without Lebron on the court, but that just speaks to how good AD/Reaves and later on Luka were in those non-Lebron minutes. Given a full off-season and a real big man I think Lebron/Luka will have great chemistry on offense this year.

[Manny98]

It was a failure because LeBron is 40 years old & Luka was playing in the worst shape of his career plus the fact they were playing against one of the biggest teams in the league without a legitimate center

[3ba11]

No, the experiment was a failure because they failed to get a big man after trading AD.. There were options at the trade deadline and they chose not to make any moves other than that botched Mark Williams trade, which was a stupid move to begin with.

Yes, Lakers performed better statistically without Lebron on the court, but that just speaks to how good AD/Reaves and later on Luka were in those non-Lebron minutes. Given a full off-season and a real big man I think Lebron/Luka will have great chemistry on offense this year.

First of all, you're saying that the Lakers need a center, but every team in the league is wishing they had a top 3 player like Luka.

The generational superstar is the bigger gap to fill than needing a guy to get 11/9 from the center position.

Secondly, Curry won with without centers... Jordan won without centers (in a big man era)... Hartenstein isn't exactly beating the world.. So the whole "needing a center" things is a bad excuse that the media fabricated to cover for Lebron slowing down and failing to beat a weak T'Wolves.. Basically, Lebron is done - if a player can't win the 1st Round as a big favorite with Luka, then a 11/9 big man isn't going to help them..

Again, the whole "needing a center" thing is just a way to cover the fact that Lebron isn't a dominant or winning player anymore and requires massive carrying... Yet his mere presence drags the team down because he's become a "plodder" - i.e. his scoring is too slow, so he can't wear down defenses anymore and leave them less capacity for offense (he can't win the attrition battle anymore)... He can no longer adhere to a tenet of all competition - the best defense is a good offense, because his offense is SLOW - go watch 20 seconds of 2009 Lebron and you'll see what I mean (dunzo).

[ImKobe]

First of all, you're saying that the Lakers need a center, but every team in the league is wishing they had a top 3 player like Luka.

The generational superstar is the bigger gap to fill than needing a guy to get 11/9 from the center position.

Secondly, Curry won with without centers... Jordan won without centers (in a big man era)... Hartenstein isn't exactly beating the world.. So the whole "needing a center" things is a bad excuse that the media fabricated to cover for Lebron slowing down and failing to beat a weak T'Wolves.. Basically, Lebron is done - if a player can't win the 1st Round as a big favorite with Luka, then a 11/9 big man isn't going to help them..

Again, the whole "needing a center" thing is just a way to cover the fact that Lebron isn't a dominant or winning player anymore and requires massive carrying... Yet his mere presence drags the team down because he's become a "plodder" - i.e. his scoring is too slow, so he can't wear down defenses anymore and leave them less capacity for offense (he can't win the attrition battle anymore)... He can no longer adhere to a tenet of all competition - the best defense is a good offense, because his offense is SLOW - go watch 20 seconds of 2009 Lebron and you'll see what I mean (dunzo).

Bulls lost in '95 because they were thin in the front court after losing Grant to the Magic. They lost to the Magic that year.
They added one of the GOAT rebounders in Rodman and went on to win 72 games and sweep the Magic (they went from losing the reb battle in '95 to outrebounding them by SIXTY in 4 games) and the rest is history.

Don't act like it's just 2 guys on the team that matters. Lebron for a 40 y.o put up great numbers in the Playoffs, even if he was not able to close. The Wolves had 17 more offensive rebounds than the Lakers. Those 2nd chance points add up. Not having a viable Center put the Lakers behind. Hayes was their 5 and he played less than 8 minutes a game in the series.
I still thought they could do enough offensively to win the series and maybe even the title, but it just wasn't good enough.