For the last year, the Los Angeles Lakers’ struggles have been primarily blamed on Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook was traded for by the team prior to the start of the 2021-22 regular season, and while the team was seen as a contender prior to that season, it ended up missing the playoffs entirely.
Early on in the 2022-23 NBA season, the Lakers once again look like a team that will miss the playoffs. The Lakers are one of just three teams that remain winless.
Though Westbrook has undeniably become the scapegoat for the team’s struggles, Channing Frye, one of Lakers superstar LeBron James’ former teammates, recently argued that the problems go much deeper than that.
Frye began by claiming that Anthony Davis needs to shoulder some of the blame for the team’s struggles.
“This is not about LeBron,” Frye began. “This is not about Russ. This is about A.D. This is 92 percent about A.D. He’s the youngest. He has the ability to play three different positions. … A.D., for the last two or three years, might be the worst jump shooter in the NBA.”
The 39-year-old definitely has a point. Since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, Davis is shooting 22.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Frye continued by saying that James is the only Lakers player that shouldn’t be on the trading block.
“Other than LeBron, everyone is on the block,” he said. “It’s just the honest truth. … Take Bron and A.D. off the team, and just put Russ on that team. How many games does this team win? 30? This is a awful team.”
The University of Arizona product went on to argue that Davis is no longer the player he once was when the Lakers won the title back in 2020.
“A.D. won a championship, give him kudos,” he said. “After that championship, he has not shown any traits that he can replicate that [elite level of play].”
Frye then delved into the mental and physical issues Davis is currently. He concluded by arguing that the core issue is that James, Davis and Westbrook simply don’t go together. It’s something that many Lakers fans have come to accept.
“They don’t work together,” he said. “It’s pizza, sushi and chicken shawarma.”
It’s clear that Frye feels quite passionately about the situation that is taking place in L.A. It must be hard for a former teammate of James to see the four-time MVP struggle so much just to get a win.
Right now, it is really hard to predict what is going to happen for the Lakers from here on out. The only saving grace appears to be a potential trade done by the team’s front office. At some point, the blame may have to be shifted away from Westbrook, Davis, James and anyone else on the court toward the front office itself.
Rob Pelinka and company have simply constructed a horrible roster. The fact that there haven’t been more conversations about a front office overhaul is somewhat surprising.
