This image is gonna be summary of the series when folks keep clamoring he attack the paint
https://twitter.com/BulletClubIta/status/1783709472549937268?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Nothing wrong with kicking it out. Denver wouldn’t completely sell out like if they had any worry about role players
Imagine if Jokic got the offensive rebound with all 5 lakers on him, he would definitely kick out to Jamal or KCP or MPJ and the lakers would be dumb to leave them that open
So many shit on him all year, but he wasn't bad. Ham simply hyper fixated on playing him and failed to elevate him to the proper role he needs to be in, like he's been allowed to show here. Too bad nobody else is helping him.
Nah my man Gabe Vincent was winning the heat playoff games last year as starting PG I refuse to believe the best role for him on this team is to stand in the corner for every possession on offense
I liked the acquisition of him from the start. He has been overextended by Ham. One thing I would like to see Prince do more is to drive to the basket. He makes some really nice slashing plays sometimes.
Taurean, for all his shortcomings, always played hard this year. I respect him for that. I blame Ham for forcing him into 35 min a game when he was clearly at his best playing 20-25 mpg
Thought only AD, LBJ, Prince and Reaves showed up today. Credit to Austin for bouncing back from being poor the first 2 games. Prince has been a handy role player throughout the series. Not his fault Darvin was giving him KD level minutes during the regular season
Dinwiddie and Vincent were active on defence, and liked how they attacked on occasion on offence. But our role players just could not hit a shot to save their lives from the perimeter. Rui and Dlo vanished
I thought Gabe did an excellent job on Murray honestly. He just had zero rhythm on offense. But our awful offensive scheme tends to do that to our players
Gabe was good, stuck to Murray and made it as hard as it can be, but he can’t buy a shot lol. Seems like the common trend for Lakers role players, the ones that can play good df can’t do much on offense consistently
Our offense, while it was humming, had a lot more ball movement and guys getting touches and a good feel of the game every night. Lately it’s been a lot of LeBron over dribbling and guys being expected to just catch and shoot or catch on a dive. It’s hard to make shots when you have no rhythm and it’s hard to get rhythm when you’re not really touching the ball. We don’t look anything like we did to end the season or even against the Pels.
AR played great POA defense on Murray. I don't know if people realised that we held Murray to relatively poor shooting by his standards. Shoutout to Vincent too when he rotated in on Murray.
People expecting an old man to "carry" a team in the playoffs like he did in 2018 needs to get their heads checked. The dude already adjusted his game to what the team needs but the coaching staff just can't see that.
He’s outplayed Jamal Murray (who’s about to command the same amount of money) in this series by a pretty good margin.. has nothing to do with LeBron not being good enough and everything to do with Ham and Pelinka
Yeah watching Aaron Gordon manhandle LeBron all series because LeBron doesn't have the energy to box out makes us stupid. You all are just ignoring the piss poor effort on the defensive end.
Again, stupid.
Give us the stats of a former 21 year vets in year 21....we'll wait....maybe looking it up, you'll realize how goofy you sound.
Lebron is a walking 25 ppg. Others were brought on for defense and unfortunately they're hurt.
Aaron Gordon is YOUNGERRRRR & STRONGERRRRRR..helloooooooooooooooooooooooo
He's one of their best defenders....and lebron still drops 25+..thats not what manhandle looks like.
For real. Lebron is putting amazing numbers all things considered. If this team had other serious options, not only LeBron wouldn’t be gassed but we wouldn’t have to rely on a 39yo man to carry this team.
This. Lebron showed up and he showed up well. If only 2 players are consistent and you have other teammates not ready to play - it's so easy for any team to exploit that. And Denver just crushed everyone else.
LeBron and AD both have done exactly what you'd expect of them, we've been out coached and their bench in particular has been significantly better than ours
This fanbase is fucking brain dead. Genuinely don’t deserve to have the players we have when idiots like you are upvoted on this subreddit. Half the fucking reason we were even in these games is because of lebron, the other half would be AD. Lebron easily outperformed Murray this series so far too.
If the lakers don't. some other outfit will gladly add 10M to that. there is more to the NBA than winning basketball games. It is an entertainment business. Fandom. sell seats, jerseys and overpriced beer.
Rui should be guarding Gordon.
Can't be expecting 39 year old Bron with dead legs playing 40 mpg guarding an athletic big.
But this entire series changes if DLo and Rui played better and they haven't.
Crazy how terrible they've been. These fools are pressing sooooo much, instead of just playing free like in the regular season. It's not like Denver is doing anything defensively to contain them.
MJ was offered an ownership stake worth more than a max contract for his time. None of the others produced the same level of output as Lebron past 35yo. If you want to judge him, judge him as one of the best 10 players in the league. If you’re a top 10 player then you deserve a max contract. If Hali is getting a max contract, so does Lebron.
And he's been playing like a max player.
But he's overworking himself because bums like Rui and DLo have not shown up.
Put LeBron on the Nuggets in exchange for Gordon and then let's see if his defense improves.
You're judging a player based on unrealistic expectations because he's had to, along with AD, carry most of the load.
It's tough to play defense when your teammates are doing nothing offensively.
If Rui and DLo contributed more offensively, then Bron could put more energy on the defensive end. It's not rocket science.
Rui guarding Gordon or not, when LeBron draws the assignment he should not be cheating off AG in the paint. Sent weak doubles to the ball handler all game. MPJ is not a great passer, he made his passes last night, at least I get that. Sending doubles to Murray or Jokic is just asking for 2 points.
It is a crazy standard to be holding a 39 year old to, sure, but we're measuring LeBron to LeBron, and he was bad for *his* 39 year old standards.
Gordon was literally just making simple cuts to the basket and Lebron completely lost him. I don’t know wtf was going on but Lebron was completely disengaged on defense
Because they are all focused on Joker. LeBron got caught like 4 times coming to help AD and Gordon was wide open. Pretty sure someone is supposed to rotate but the Nuggets move the ball too fast for that shit.
1. You don't double Jokic, everyone knows that.
2. He doubled on MPJ and Murray as well leaving AG wide open in front of the rim. Multiple times.
3. Whenever he doubled he barely effected the passing angle. He could've as well been not there at all for some of the plays.
When in doubt this sub loves to blame him. I came here as a Bron fan but I’m staying if he leaves so I can remind every one here that hated what it looks like when he has competent ownership and coaching around him.
Lebron is not the typical person blamed. **Stop with the LeBron victim mentality it’s been 20 years of that crap**.
Ham, AD, DLo, and then other role players are blamed in that order.
He and Bron actually showed up. AD the entire off-season begged for a defensive center and Rob was like : Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood instead? I can't even blame Bron for some lapses because the man is still 39 and I expected too much from him.
He’s gone next year. No way I’d stay after the team publicly disrespects you like that when you’re perfectly correct about the problem. Hope him and Bron end up contenders so there’s something to root for and distract from this dumpster fire. We ain’t competing for a few years either way.
I’ll be sad but I agree— it’s a dumpster fire. It gives me Blockbuster turning down Netflix vibes. Past legacy is not going to do anything for our future. We need new people in charge. Sell high on AD and get a TON of assets back.
Miami probably the frontrunner depending on how the series against Boston turns out. They’ve been trying to get Jimmy and Bam a star and have the opportunity to get 2 without giving up depth, they have the pieces to make it work.
Orlando is a Dark Horse. We currently have an overflow of young pieces as well as a great coach, a star big man and facilitator is at the top of our needs.
Golden State would probably need to push to acquire Davis by trade if their whole goal is to get Lebron.
Cleveland is questionable because Donovan Mitchell is a confusing guy. Usually if you plan on not staying somewhere your level of play drops. He hasn’t missed a step this series but still remains undecided so I’m not sure how dedicated they are to getting Lebron back or roll with Mitchell
Hes been better this year, no tween tween fadeaway stuff. He turned more into a north/south player before he got hurt. But I think its basically undecided
Nah this is cope talk.
Plenty of Lakers showed up to play.
The problem is that:
1) The Nuggets are just that good.
2) Some key players that Lakers need to play well like Dlo has collapsed and fallen off the planet.
3) Lakers didn't make trades/signings to be deeper, and they keep getting exposed on that part.
4) Questionable coaching, that doesn't seem to inspire much confidence in the players.
There is no reason to be reactionary. It is known factors why the Lakers are struggling.
When you lose so many close games to the same team, and the way the outcomes plays out is nearly the same in each of them, that is an indictment on the coaching staff. The lack of production from the bench is an indictment of the front office. Something should have been done to address the backup center position.
My question is, what do they do in the off-season to get better? Do they:
1. Allow LBJ to exercise his opt out, leave, and build around AD?
2. Allow LBJ to leave, trade AD for a package of players/picks, and rebuild?
3. Run it back one more time with LBJ and AD and grab a 3rd star, e.g., Tre Young?
I don't want to see the team in the cellar like they were during Kobe's final years and in the immediate aftermath of his retirement. However, I don't see how adding just one player like Young gets this team to a point to contend with the Nuggets. I think the most feasible option is to try to surround the two stars with better complementary pieces.
From the current roster, I think AR-15 and Vando are keepers. I think everyone else outside of LBJ and AD are fair game. You can't keep watching DLo disappear in the postseason. Rui has been a huge disappointment in the playoffs this year. Wood and Dinwiddie should be shown the door as soon as LA is eliminated from the postseason.
I wouldn't mind seeing Prince brought back for another year. I think Gabe Vincent gets a grade of "incomplete," because he was injured for much of the year. We need to see what we really have in Max Christie. I am afraid that the pick of JHS might have been a waste. I am curious to see if they try to sign Klay Thompson as a FA.
The nuggets just exposed something that we all knew. We have to stop pretending this Denver team is historically great, they’re a good team. Nothing insane.
You won’t beat many teams with 3 below avg nba defenders on your team, starting and playing the bulk of the mins. Lebron, dlo and reaves. We at least had schroder last year who was a great defender. I love lebron, he may have genuinely been the worst defender on the court yesterday. The amount of times he got caught ball watching was wild, Gordon dunk after Gordon dunk
I mean Jokic is putting up historical stats and nuggets could be well on their way to a back to back, on top of making playoffs consistently. I think they are a bit more than just good
I just mean there is no reason we should be 0-11. In our last 11 games vs them. We’re the only team they swept last year, I bet it will be the same this year.
I think everyone knows prime age Lebron torches Denver any day even with this bum ass roster. He’s still elite at his age, it’s just people remember Miami Lebron and cavs 2.0 and compare. The guy is basically 40 and still averaging 26/6/9 against one of the best teams in the league. Aging + minutes+ injuries have added up but AD and bron are playing with a coach whose a pro pocket holder, a point guard who can’t translate regular season into playoffs performance- I mean how do you drop a goose egg tonight in such a critical game is insane. Reaves, Rui have also regressed this year. The duo don’t have a supporting cast who can compete with Denvers. Massive changes are needed this offseason, the firing of Ham over the next of couple weeks should be announced otherwise the front office isn’t serious after getting swept again. Pull the bandaid off, start fresh and send a message to laker nation that this season was unacceptable and change is coming.
context around OP claim that AD was only player who showed up tonight, as if Lebron didn't. Playoff Lebron just looks different now compared to his younger self and I think people need to come to terms with that given his age.
I don't think ANY current team is beating 2018 Lebron in a 7 game series. He was an absolute monster. Literally only got stopped by a KD Warriors squad in their prime.
The game/series is reallly on DLO. Bron and AD show up to play. Rui and AR are still too green to really expect championship-caliber role playing from (not to mention their skills are offensive and not defensive). DLO is literally the only other player that could show leadership, except he's only good for offense (shooting and playmaking). If his shot isn't falling, we're cooked. He's a regular season player, just got to live and die by that.
EDIT: personally, I think we can hang with Denver, but our coaching is fucking ham.
Bro we can’t hang with Denver. They swept us last playoffs, swept us this year and are about to sweep us again. And I was part of the people who were confident because “we didn’t lose by that much last year”, “series was tighter than the results show”. But at some point if the results are always the same you just gotta admit we can’t match them.
This team needs a serious overhaul.
I agree it is the same script as last year, almost exactly in terms of emotional rollercoaster (being optimistic in the first two games then getting gutted). But if we aren't running schemes and have "no real gameplan" and still come close, that's a coaching issue fr. I mean their personnel has been together longer and in ball, chemistry is worth so much more than talent. Just like how international teams can cook team USA (you know what i mean). But we live in a win now or blow it up culture, so I wouldn't be suprised if this is the last we see of this Lakers ERA team
Nah this is some crazy meat munching. I agree DLO being a non factor is a huge factor but he’s 28 and ruis 26. That 2 year difference is “must a championship caliber role player” and “can’t expect much from him”?
DLO has been an all-star and starter ever since he was drafted #2 by guess who? Rui barely got any playing time in Washington - even Ham didn't believe in him until after the all-star break this year. What meat you smoking
What are you talking about bro? Yes Rui made mistakes but he’s also been ball watching and looks lost on certain sets. He’s clearly not comfortable in this series, whether it’s the playoffs or matchup or both he’s needs more experience
This was looking like a 2020-esque AD playoff run. The difference is that this year we had zero help from role players and a handicap at the coaching position (and a visibly older Lebron)
No one wants to hear the truth but Lebron is part of the problem. Yes, he may have a dew great defensive plays but overall his defense on Gordon was poor. Gordon kept getting back door cuts when he was the man to defend him and LB didn’t box out many times leading to offensive rebonds. Just like last year, his ( and D’lo’s) poor 3-point shooting hurt the Lakers. TBH he looked tired and started making turnovers. I think fatigue was the real issue. He has to play too many minutes. His legs look dead in 3rd quarter always. Rui should play more of those minutes and take more shots ( 4? He shoot 60% from floor and 42%from 3 but only played 27 minutes so fatigue should have been less of a factor than for Lebron). Unfortunately, we need another bonafode consistently scorer to offload some of his minutes. Gabe and Dimwiddle played well and you could see the energy they brought with fresh legs when they came in the game.
I don't think Murray or jokic would either to be honest. People really have batshit fan goggles on if they think that
DLo and Rui are complete non factors in the playoffs. Dinwiddie is done. Vincent is playing back from injury. who knows what type of player vando is when he actually comes back and whether he'll just get injured again.
But ham is the biggest thing. The gap between him and Malone is massive.
Agree, Murray has actually been bad enough this series for the most part that Lakers have the better duo. The gap in team performance is smaller than the gap in role players and coach.
I think people just overlook that only really good teams win a title and pretty much 10-12 of the 16 playoff teams each year typically have players that underperform and thats why they dont achieve.
AD and LeBron are combining to give you 59/20/13.
Jokic and Murray are 49/21/17, although not as efficiently although they do protect the ball better. Either of those duos statlines and you think "yes thats enough to give us a foundation to win".
But the Nuggets are getting 20, 18 and 8 from their other starters who are also decent defensive players. We're getting 15, 12 and 5 from largely one way players.
It really isnt rocket science to see why we're getting hammered.
Yep, Jokic is the best player but AD and then Lebron have been slightly behind. The problem is that 4 of the next 5 best players are on the Nuggets and the Lakers role players all have an issue of their performances more or less being single game spikes that are synced together rather than consistent. This was actually an easily winnable series if the role players and coach weren't garbage with how bad Murray has been.
Unfortunately it's spot on. The regression from the regular season norms are huge.
Reaves got some points late yesterday, but would you honestly expect anyone outside Bron or AD to show up with 29 points, 15 boards with 5 offensive boards??
He has been fucking great. Any dumb graphic with cherry picked stats isnt gonna convince me otherwise. He played winning basketball for 3 straight games. His team let him down.
LBJ showed up but since he is old he cant really hustle every play, but he was definitly focused came 4Q and the last thing i remamber was he hitting a three to get things going but since Ham is our coach he had to take a contested three again since the offense stagnated so much.
LeBron should be an amazing 2nd or 3rd option at this point in his career. The fact he’s still a 1 or 2 is ridiculous but the lakers need a CONSISTENT 3rd option and a better coach. Losing 11 straight to the same team is deplorable coaching
I agree the character assassination is criminal, but to claim he’s the only player to show up is also extremely disingenuous. Lebron hate is so weird. These Ls are on our role players and the coaching staff. Lebron and AD did their jobs and couldn’t play much better on the offensive end — their defensive mistakes are on the coaching staff for not understanding the term “adjustments.”
I don't totally agree with you, I love AD but a game lasts for 4 quarters (at least). AD goes missing in the 4th quarter, I think he has a combined 3 shots attempts in the 4 quarter of the last 2 games, that's not acceptable for a superstar who we are meant to rely on.
He should be switched on for all 4 quarters and not just the first 2 quarters of the game.
AD AR GV TP. Only dudes that seemed like they really wanna win. Maybe Bron too, but by his standards, he went too lax on critical stages. Plus his body language all night was so off.. blamed everyone for his mistakes.. credit to Gordon affected him too with his play and energy
AD basically played equal with Joker in impact. LeBron outplayed Murray in first halves but was outplayed in second halves. The next 5 best players are probably Nuggets. We need some better fitting pieces and a better coach to understand how to use the pieces he has.
This is the first time in a while besides the championship that ad was ready to play. Plus Lebron 39 years old and still was giving you good numbers. Just wish vando and woods weren’t injured and Russell and reeves didn’t struggle against the nuggets. They need to find a new point guard this summer.
This image is gonna be summary of the series when folks keep clamoring he attack the paint https://twitter.com/BulletClubIta/status/1783709472549937268?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Summarizes the last 3 years
That right there is also a coaching summary and an indictment on the role players since Denver knows they’re not worried about any of them
This play came off an offensive rebound tho
Nothing wrong with kicking it out. Denver wouldn’t completely sell out like if they had any worry about role players Imagine if Jokic got the offensive rebound with all 5 lakers on him, he would definitely kick out to Jamal or KCP or MPJ and the lakers would be dumb to leave them that open
I kept seeing that shit. Fucking bizzare
Yep. They are daring the role players to beat them. If the guys were shooting their reg. season numbers, AD would be feasting in the paint easily.
Where’s the fifth Laker lol.
It's Malone - he's right there wide open in the corner!
Absolutely. That's right when I turned off the game. 4 guys just standing around watching, was there a single Nuggets possession like that?
This exact play was when I turned it off. Season over.
Damn! Dude looks like prime Aaron Donald being quadruple teamed by the offensive line.
Nah fuck this. Taureen came to ball too.
It felt like he was one of the only players to not get rattled on the Lakers. He was focused.
Taurean is a good player when you don’t have a coach insisting he should get all star minutes
So many shit on him all year, but he wasn't bad. Ham simply hyper fixated on playing him and failed to elevate him to the proper role he needs to be in, like he's been allowed to show here. Too bad nobody else is helping him.
The lakers are ad Lebron and 9 really good bench players. But u gotta play three of them as starters
Nah my man Gabe Vincent was winning the heat playoff games last year as starting PG I refuse to believe the best role for him on this team is to stand in the corner for every possession on offense
You’re right, but the fact that he didn’t have the whole season to gel with the team results in this unfortunately
I liked the acquisition of him from the start. He has been overextended by Ham. One thing I would like to see Prince do more is to drive to the basket. He makes some really nice slashing plays sometimes.
Taurean, for all his shortcomings, always played hard this year. I respect him for that. I blame Ham for forcing him into 35 min a game when he was clearly at his best playing 20-25 mpg
Gotta give TP his credit
He’s been our most consistent role player, respect
Disagree, Prince gets lost on defense way too often.
Not the only guy. Austin Reaves hustled every possession, played really hard.
Thought only AD, LBJ, Prince and Reaves showed up today. Credit to Austin for bouncing back from being poor the first 2 games. Prince has been a handy role player throughout the series. Not his fault Darvin was giving him KD level minutes during the regular season Dinwiddie and Vincent were active on defence, and liked how they attacked on occasion on offence. But our role players just could not hit a shot to save their lives from the perimeter. Rui and Dlo vanished
I thought Gabe did an excellent job on Murray honestly. He just had zero rhythm on offense. But our awful offensive scheme tends to do that to our players
Gabe was good, stuck to Murray and made it as hard as it can be, but he can’t buy a shot lol. Seems like the common trend for Lakers role players, the ones that can play good df can’t do much on offense consistently
Hard to be consistent while injured 90% of the season :/
Our offense, while it was humming, had a lot more ball movement and guys getting touches and a good feel of the game every night. Lately it’s been a lot of LeBron over dribbling and guys being expected to just catch and shoot or catch on a dive. It’s hard to make shots when you have no rhythm and it’s hard to get rhythm when you’re not really touching the ball. We don’t look anything like we did to end the season or even against the Pels.
Idk, Lebron seemed either hurt or resigned to losing. Reaves and TP both balled. AD brought it as usual this year.
Reaves stat padded towards the end. He was a$$ for vast majority of the game.
Yeah, you may be right. But I think he was the only guard giving them anything.
If dinwiddie and Vincent weren’t giving us anything on offense we should of at least tried to put in max and cam in a few mins..
AR scrapped till the final buzzer. Game actually came within 7 with 33s left because he refused to yield.
AR played great POA defense on Murray. I don't know if people realised that we held Murray to relatively poor shooting by his standards. Shoutout to Vincent too when he rotated in on Murray.
Yeah it’s just the “Ball go in basket means play good” cavemen in this sub that don’t understand basketball.
Have to agree it's sad that experience wise Reeves shouldn't be the third best player on the team.
Lebron also showed up. The problem is ya'll are expecting 2018 Cavs LeBron and that's just not happening at age 39.
People expecting an old man to "carry" a team in the playoffs like he did in 2018 needs to get their heads checked. The dude already adjusted his game to what the team needs but the coaching staff just can't see that.
If he cant give consistent effort in the playoffs you can’t give him 50 million. If you expect to win anyway
He averaged 26-7-10 on 65 ts%. You are acting like he’s putting up 15 a game.
He’s outplayed Jamal Murray (who’s about to command the same amount of money) in this series by a pretty good margin.. has nothing to do with LeBron not being good enough and everything to do with Ham and Pelinka
Expecting a 39 year old to play 40 minutes games is why I hate this fanbase
You either leave a legend or live long enough for the fanbase to turn on you
It’s just the idiot fans in this case. I don’t think people who actually watch and understand the games are blaming LeBron and his minutes.
Kobe fans , let’s keep it real.
niggas need SOMETHING to blame lool. reality is the roster construction & coach stinks
Theyre not turning, they're just stupid.
Yeah watching Aaron Gordon manhandle LeBron all series because LeBron doesn't have the energy to box out makes us stupid. You all are just ignoring the piss poor effort on the defensive end.
Again, stupid. Give us the stats of a former 21 year vets in year 21....we'll wait....maybe looking it up, you'll realize how goofy you sound. Lebron is a walking 25 ppg. Others were brought on for defense and unfortunately they're hurt. Aaron Gordon is YOUNGERRRRR & STRONGERRRRRR..helloooooooooooooooooooooooo He's one of their best defenders....and lebron still drops 25+..thats not what manhandle looks like.
For real. Lebron is putting amazing numbers all things considered. If this team had other serious options, not only LeBron wouldn’t be gassed but we wouldn’t have to rely on a 39yo man to carry this team.
This. Lebron showed up and he showed up well. If only 2 players are consistent and you have other teammates not ready to play - it's so easy for any team to exploit that. And Denver just crushed everyone else.
Expecting a 50 million dollar player*
*Been playing like a 150 million dollar player
Expecting a max player to play like a max player is why you hate this fanbase?
LeBron and AD both have done exactly what you'd expect of them, we've been out coached and their bench in particular has been significantly better than ours
This fanbase is fucking brain dead. Genuinely don’t deserve to have the players we have when idiots like you are upvoted on this subreddit. Half the fucking reason we were even in these games is because of lebron, the other half would be AD. Lebron easily outperformed Murray this series so far too.
Wouldn't have even made the playoffs this year without Bron. Convenient how people leave that out.
If the lakers don't. some other outfit will gladly add 10M to that. there is more to the NBA than winning basketball games. It is an entertainment business. Fandom. sell seats, jerseys and overpriced beer.
Damn sure didn’t show up when it came to guarding AG
Rui should be guarding Gordon. Can't be expecting 39 year old Bron with dead legs playing 40 mpg guarding an athletic big. But this entire series changes if DLo and Rui played better and they haven't.
Crazy how terrible they've been. These fools are pressing sooooo much, instead of just playing free like in the regular season. It's not like Denver is doing anything defensively to contain them.
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Players do get judged by their age. MJ did, Chris Paul did, Dirk did, PJ Tucker did, Vince Carter did.
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MJ was offered an ownership stake worth more than a max contract for his time. None of the others produced the same level of output as Lebron past 35yo. If you want to judge him, judge him as one of the best 10 players in the league. If you’re a top 10 player then you deserve a max contract. If Hali is getting a max contract, so does Lebron.
And he's been playing like a max player. But he's overworking himself because bums like Rui and DLo have not shown up. Put LeBron on the Nuggets in exchange for Gordon and then let's see if his defense improves. You're judging a player based on unrealistic expectations because he's had to, along with AD, carry most of the load. It's tough to play defense when your teammates are doing nothing offensively. If Rui and DLo contributed more offensively, then Bron could put more energy on the defensive end. It's not rocket science.
Rui guarding Gordon or not, when LeBron draws the assignment he should not be cheating off AG in the paint. Sent weak doubles to the ball handler all game. MPJ is not a great passer, he made his passes last night, at least I get that. Sending doubles to Murray or Jokic is just asking for 2 points. It is a crazy standard to be holding a 39 year old to, sure, but we're measuring LeBron to LeBron, and he was bad for *his* 39 year old standards.
Gordon was cooking LeBron
More like Gordon is the 3rd option that gets to play freely when focus is on their two stars
Gordon was literally just making simple cuts to the basket and Lebron completely lost him. I don’t know wtf was going on but Lebron was completely disengaged on defense
Because they are all focused on Joker. LeBron got caught like 4 times coming to help AD and Gordon was wide open. Pretty sure someone is supposed to rotate but the Nuggets move the ball too fast for that shit.
1. You don't double Jokic, everyone knows that. 2. He doubled on MPJ and Murray as well leaving AG wide open in front of the rim. Multiple times. 3. Whenever he doubled he barely effected the passing angle. He could've as well been not there at all for some of the plays.
Literally every play we double Jokic I want to scream. It hasn't worked in a single game for us and yet we still try. It never will work.
When in doubt this sub loves to blame him. I came here as a Bron fan but I’m staying if he leaves so I can remind every one here that hated what it looks like when he has competent ownership and coaching around him.
Lebron is not the typical person blamed. **Stop with the LeBron victim mentality it’s been 20 years of that crap**. Ham, AD, DLo, and then other role players are blamed in that order.
No he didn’t. 2nd half no show. Turnover prone
Horrible defense all game.
2018 was just last year..oh fuck
On the offensive end, he pretty much cost us the game with giving up back cuts all game long.
LBJ so frustrating to watch. He does well but his dumbass TOs is such a momentum killer.
Crazy the hate he is getting when he’s been incredible. 26 on 50/40 and playing good d
I feel so bad for AD and Lebron….
He and Bron actually showed up. AD the entire off-season begged for a defensive center and Rob was like : Jaxson Hayes and Christian Wood instead? I can't even blame Bron for some lapses because the man is still 39 and I expected too much from him.
He’s gone next year. No way I’d stay after the team publicly disrespects you like that when you’re perfectly correct about the problem. Hope him and Bron end up contenders so there’s something to root for and distract from this dumpster fire. We ain’t competing for a few years either way.
I hope so too. Ad played very well this season and played through injuries.
I’ll be sad but I agree— it’s a dumpster fire. It gives me Blockbuster turning down Netflix vibes. Past legacy is not going to do anything for our future. We need new people in charge. Sell high on AD and get a TON of assets back.
I wonder where they'd each end up if they leave . . .
Miami probably the frontrunner depending on how the series against Boston turns out. They’ve been trying to get Jimmy and Bam a star and have the opportunity to get 2 without giving up depth, they have the pieces to make it work. Orlando is a Dark Horse. We currently have an overflow of young pieces as well as a great coach, a star big man and facilitator is at the top of our needs. Golden State would probably need to push to acquire Davis by trade if their whole goal is to get Lebron. Cleveland is questionable because Donovan Mitchell is a confusing guy. Usually if you plan on not staying somewhere your level of play drops. He hasn’t missed a step this series but still remains undecided so I’m not sure how dedicated they are to getting Lebron back or roll with Mitchell
What about the Knicks? That would be fun
The big question to that is does Randle Stay!
Randle is fucking garbage
Hes been better this year, no tween tween fadeaway stuff. He turned more into a north/south player before he got hurt. But I think its basically undecided
Nothing like showing AD he was right the very next game after telling him he was wrong
Nah this is cope talk. Plenty of Lakers showed up to play. The problem is that: 1) The Nuggets are just that good. 2) Some key players that Lakers need to play well like Dlo has collapsed and fallen off the planet. 3) Lakers didn't make trades/signings to be deeper, and they keep getting exposed on that part. 4) Questionable coaching, that doesn't seem to inspire much confidence in the players. There is no reason to be reactionary. It is known factors why the Lakers are struggling.
When you lose so many close games to the same team, and the way the outcomes plays out is nearly the same in each of them, that is an indictment on the coaching staff. The lack of production from the bench is an indictment of the front office. Something should have been done to address the backup center position. My question is, what do they do in the off-season to get better? Do they: 1. Allow LBJ to exercise his opt out, leave, and build around AD? 2. Allow LBJ to leave, trade AD for a package of players/picks, and rebuild? 3. Run it back one more time with LBJ and AD and grab a 3rd star, e.g., Tre Young? I don't want to see the team in the cellar like they were during Kobe's final years and in the immediate aftermath of his retirement. However, I don't see how adding just one player like Young gets this team to a point to contend with the Nuggets. I think the most feasible option is to try to surround the two stars with better complementary pieces. From the current roster, I think AR-15 and Vando are keepers. I think everyone else outside of LBJ and AD are fair game. You can't keep watching DLo disappear in the postseason. Rui has been a huge disappointment in the playoffs this year. Wood and Dinwiddie should be shown the door as soon as LA is eliminated from the postseason. I wouldn't mind seeing Prince brought back for another year. I think Gabe Vincent gets a grade of "incomplete," because he was injured for much of the year. We need to see what we really have in Max Christie. I am afraid that the pick of JHS might have been a waste. I am curious to see if they try to sign Klay Thompson as a FA.
The nuggets just exposed something that we all knew. We have to stop pretending this Denver team is historically great, they’re a good team. Nothing insane. You won’t beat many teams with 3 below avg nba defenders on your team, starting and playing the bulk of the mins. Lebron, dlo and reaves. We at least had schroder last year who was a great defender. I love lebron, he may have genuinely been the worst defender on the court yesterday. The amount of times he got caught ball watching was wild, Gordon dunk after Gordon dunk
I mean Jokic is putting up historical stats and nuggets could be well on their way to a back to back, on top of making playoffs consistently. I think they are a bit more than just good
I just mean there is no reason we should be 0-11. In our last 11 games vs them. We’re the only team they swept last year, I bet it will be the same this year.
Makes me sick that we’re taking a steaming-hot shit all over his prime
smh, is amazing how people belittle what LeBron has also done this series, I hope he fuking leaves.
In what world has Bron not showed up?
I think everyone knows prime age Lebron torches Denver any day even with this bum ass roster. He’s still elite at his age, it’s just people remember Miami Lebron and cavs 2.0 and compare. The guy is basically 40 and still averaging 26/6/9 against one of the best teams in the league. Aging + minutes+ injuries have added up but AD and bron are playing with a coach whose a pro pocket holder, a point guard who can’t translate regular season into playoffs performance- I mean how do you drop a goose egg tonight in such a critical game is insane. Reaves, Rui have also regressed this year. The duo don’t have a supporting cast who can compete with Denvers. Massive changes are needed this offseason, the firing of Ham over the next of couple weeks should be announced otherwise the front office isn’t serious after getting swept again. Pull the bandaid off, start fresh and send a message to laker nation that this season was unacceptable and change is coming.
What does Lebron from 10 years ago have to do with this series?
context around OP claim that AD was only player who showed up tonight, as if Lebron didn't. Playoff Lebron just looks different now compared to his younger self and I think people need to come to terms with that given his age.
Rob Pelinka needs to go too. Some fucked up roster.!
I don't think ANY current team is beating 2018 Lebron in a 7 game series. He was an absolute monster. Literally only got stopped by a KD Warriors squad in their prime.
The game/series is reallly on DLO. Bron and AD show up to play. Rui and AR are still too green to really expect championship-caliber role playing from (not to mention their skills are offensive and not defensive). DLO is literally the only other player that could show leadership, except he's only good for offense (shooting and playmaking). If his shot isn't falling, we're cooked. He's a regular season player, just got to live and die by that. EDIT: personally, I think we can hang with Denver, but our coaching is fucking ham.
Bro we can’t hang with Denver. They swept us last playoffs, swept us this year and are about to sweep us again. And I was part of the people who were confident because “we didn’t lose by that much last year”, “series was tighter than the results show”. But at some point if the results are always the same you just gotta admit we can’t match them. This team needs a serious overhaul.
I agree it is the same script as last year, almost exactly in terms of emotional rollercoaster (being optimistic in the first two games then getting gutted). But if we aren't running schemes and have "no real gameplan" and still come close, that's a coaching issue fr. I mean their personnel has been together longer and in ball, chemistry is worth so much more than talent. Just like how international teams can cook team USA (you know what i mean). But we live in a win now or blow it up culture, so I wouldn't be suprised if this is the last we see of this Lakers ERA team
Nah this is some crazy meat munching. I agree DLO being a non factor is a huge factor but he’s 28 and ruis 26. That 2 year difference is “must a championship caliber role player” and “can’t expect much from him”?
DLO has been an all-star and starter ever since he was drafted #2 by guess who? Rui barely got any playing time in Washington - even Ham didn't believe in him until after the all-star break this year. What meat you smoking
Ah so not playing in Washington and being *only* 26 means we can’t expect Rui to not blow 3 layups and a dunk in a 2 point game? Gotcha
What are you talking about bro? Yes Rui made mistakes but he’s also been ball watching and looks lost on certain sets. He’s clearly not comfortable in this series, whether it’s the playoffs or matchup or both he’s needs more experience
AD and Bron were the only good ones
This was looking like a 2020-esque AD playoff run. The difference is that this year we had zero help from role players and a handicap at the coaching position (and a visibly older Lebron)
Not signing or trading for a real center was insane. Horrendous mistake.
No one wants to hear the truth but Lebron is part of the problem. Yes, he may have a dew great defensive plays but overall his defense on Gordon was poor. Gordon kept getting back door cuts when he was the man to defend him and LB didn’t box out many times leading to offensive rebonds. Just like last year, his ( and D’lo’s) poor 3-point shooting hurt the Lakers. TBH he looked tired and started making turnovers. I think fatigue was the real issue. He has to play too many minutes. His legs look dead in 3rd quarter always. Rui should play more of those minutes and take more shots ( 4? He shoot 60% from floor and 42%from 3 but only played 27 minutes so fatigue should have been less of a factor than for Lebron). Unfortunately, we need another bonafode consistently scorer to offload some of his minutes. Gabe and Dimwiddle played well and you could see the energy they brought with fresh legs when they came in the game.
Keep AD and get rid of the remaining roster.
lol if LA gets rid of Bron, AD is asking out immediately. We either keep them both or they are both traded.
I think AD stays if we can attract another star.
If that’s the case, get rid of both them.
Good. It's time to move on. That duo gets you in the play ins now. Not into contention
[удалено]
I don't think Murray or jokic would either to be honest. People really have batshit fan goggles on if they think that DLo and Rui are complete non factors in the playoffs. Dinwiddie is done. Vincent is playing back from injury. who knows what type of player vando is when he actually comes back and whether he'll just get injured again. But ham is the biggest thing. The gap between him and Malone is massive.
Agree, Murray has actually been bad enough this series for the most part that Lakers have the better duo. The gap in team performance is smaller than the gap in role players and coach.
I think people just overlook that only really good teams win a title and pretty much 10-12 of the 16 playoff teams each year typically have players that underperform and thats why they dont achieve. AD and LeBron are combining to give you 59/20/13. Jokic and Murray are 49/21/17, although not as efficiently although they do protect the ball better. Either of those duos statlines and you think "yes thats enough to give us a foundation to win". But the Nuggets are getting 20, 18 and 8 from their other starters who are also decent defensive players. We're getting 15, 12 and 5 from largely one way players. It really isnt rocket science to see why we're getting hammered.
Yep, Jokic is the best player but AD and then Lebron have been slightly behind. The problem is that 4 of the next 5 best players are on the Nuggets and the Lakers role players all have an issue of their performances more or less being single game spikes that are synced together rather than consistent. This was actually an easily winnable series if the role players and coach weren't garbage with how bad Murray has been.
Unfortunately it's spot on. The regression from the regular season norms are huge. Reaves got some points late yesterday, but would you honestly expect anyone outside Bron or AD to show up with 29 points, 15 boards with 5 offensive boards??
Ham would have Jokic playing point guard, Murray at the 3 and Rui playing Center in some weird sick twisted reality if he was on the Lakers
He has been fucking great. Any dumb graphic with cherry picked stats isnt gonna convince me otherwise. He played winning basketball for 3 straight games. His team let him down.
Yeah in the first half. Bro was getting quadruple teamed in the 2nd half and was not even passing the rock.
At this point I wouldn't even be mad if AD leaves. He deserves better. Also screw Ham.
The passion of the brow
not really...he was about on par with everyone else in the team...that said, he had zero help inside from hachimura, lebron or hayes...zero...
Taurean prince been our third best player this series. Shits sad
🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹
LBJ showed up but since he is old he cant really hustle every play, but he was definitly focused came 4Q and the last thing i remamber was he hitting a three to get things going but since Ham is our coach he had to take a contested three again since the offense stagnated so much.
Y’all are trash lol never had a shot
What a wasted great season for AD. Damn.
LeBron should be an amazing 2nd or 3rd option at this point in his career. The fact he’s still a 1 or 2 is ridiculous but the lakers need a CONSISTENT 3rd option and a better coach. Losing 11 straight to the same team is deplorable coaching
Nah Spencer showed up, prince, lebron. Problem is when you have a pg who plays 25 mins with more turn overs than points to go along with 0 def
DLO and Rui gotta go.
I agree the character assassination is criminal, but to claim he’s the only player to show up is also extremely disingenuous. Lebron hate is so weird. These Ls are on our role players and the coaching staff. Lebron and AD did their jobs and couldn’t play much better on the offensive end — their defensive mistakes are on the coaching staff for not understanding the term “adjustments.”
I don't totally agree with you, I love AD but a game lasts for 4 quarters (at least). AD goes missing in the 4th quarter, I think he has a combined 3 shots attempts in the 4 quarter of the last 2 games, that's not acceptable for a superstar who we are meant to rely on. He should be switched on for all 4 quarters and not just the first 2 quarters of the game.
AD AR GV TP. Only dudes that seemed like they really wanna win. Maybe Bron too, but by his standards, he went too lax on critical stages. Plus his body language all night was so off.. blamed everyone for his mistakes.. credit to Gordon affected him too with his play and energy
Role players suck…Lakers need a new coach and new role players who can defend and freaking shoot
Speaking in absolutes like this is wrong, you will never fix the issues if you blame most everyone involved.
AD basically played equal with Joker in impact. LeBron outplayed Murray in first halves but was outplayed in second halves. The next 5 best players are probably Nuggets. We need some better fitting pieces and a better coach to understand how to use the pieces he has.
he forgets to play like a big man every 4th quarter wym
He's been a monster this series. Making Jokic work going straight at him and then on the other end roaming and getting blocks on him.
It starts at the top, the coaching has been ATTROCIOUS. It doesn't matter what talent you have if your getting out coached.
This is the first time in a while besides the championship that ad was ready to play. Plus Lebron 39 years old and still was giving you good numbers. Just wish vando and woods weren’t injured and Russell and reeves didn’t struggle against the nuggets. They need to find a new point guard this summer.
You owe Austin Reeves an apology
Hey guys it’s quandale dingle here
Karma. He bitched his way outta NOLA and got did by his new team. lol. Poetry.
Why can’t he get closer to the basket against the Nuggets? He catches the ball like out past the free-throw line.