- Shaquille O’Neal calls himself and Kobe Bryant the only ‘superduo’ ever created
- Kevin Love on LeBron James’ final game: ‘I know he wants to have a Kobe-type exit where he scores 60 and does his thing’
- Robert Horry calls Damian Lillard the best clutch shooter ever over Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant
- Report: Former Lakers coach is the ‘leader’ for the Hornets coaching job
- Patrick Beverley says without hesitation that he’d like to play with LeBron James
- Report: Lakers will ‘definitely have interest’ in Doc Rivers if he’s fired by 76ers
- Report: Frank Vogel interviewed with Charlotte Hornets
- LeBron James echoes Rich Paul’s wise words to Tyrese Maxey
- Report: Lakers have requested permission to interview Bucks assistant Charles Lee for their head-coaching vacancy
- Report: Lakers hoping for ‘Kobe-like retirement game’ when LeBron breaks Kareem’s scoring record next season
Anonymous Lakers staffer’s deflating message about the team without LeBron James this season
- Updated: January 31, 2022

The Los Angeles Lakers have lost three straight games with LeBron James out of the lineup, and an anonymous Lakers staffer gave an ominous update on the team without James thus far this season.
"Everyday [LeBron] is out, we sink"
— Lakers staffer to @ramonashelburne#NBATwitter #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/NU1JkTGx38
— 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣’ 𝙉𝘽𝘼 🗣️ (@_Talkin_NBA) January 31, 2022
The Lakers are now three games below .500 in the 2021-22 campaign, and they are currently the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference.
James has missed 15 games so far this season, and the Lakers have struggled mightily without him. The team is just 5-10 without James in the lineup, but it has gone 19-17 with him playing.
Los Angeles was hoping that the 2021-22 season would be much different than last season, as injuries to James and Anthony Davis led to the Lakers landing in the play-in tournament last season.
However, the Lakers have lost both James and Davis for several games in the 2021-22 campaign, and the addition of Russell Westbrook hasn’t worked out the way the team had hoped.
The Lakers were able to escape the play-in tournament last season by beating the Golden State Warriors, but they were promptly knocked out of the playoffs in the first round by the Phoenix Suns.
If Los Angeles finishes with the No. 9 seed, it would need to win two play-in tournament games in order to get into the playoffs this season.
James is obviously a huge part of the Lakers’ path to success, as he is averaging 29.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game while shooting 52.2 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from beyond the arc.
Los Angeles simply doesn’t have the depth right now to win without James, and it clearly is weighing on the team, according to the anonymous staffer’s comments.
The Lakers will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers.