Things are going from bad to worse for LeBron James and the 14-21 Los Angeles Lakers.
Though there was some optimism earlier in the month of December, an injury to superstar big man Anthony Davis stopped those good vibes dead in their tracks. In more bad news, a recent report indicated that Rob Pelinka, Jeanie Buss and the rest of the decisions makers in L.A. may be leaning towards not making any trades to try to improve the roster.
Though James has kept quiet for much of the season when it comes to his certain disappointment for how the season has so far turned out, it appears that he may no longer be keeping quiet.
According to a recent report, James is becoming “increasingly direct” about how unhappy he is with his team’s struggles.
“James, who turned 38 on Friday, has become increasingly direct about his dissatisfaction with the Lakers’ struggles,” Jovan Buha of The Athletic wrote. “He intentionally mentioned his future — both in the NBA and as a Laker. His well-known desire for the organization to upgrade the roster, already lurking beneath the surface of the season, has emerged since Anthony Davis’ right foot injury two weeks ago.”
Despite the fact that James won a title with the Lakers back in 2020, the argument that his tenure with the team has been primarily a failure is certainly gaining steam. The Lakers are currently far outside the playoff standings in the West.
The Lakers missed the playoffs in both the 2018-19 season and 2021-22 season.
Aside from that, James has to be feeling a greater sense of urgency when it comes to adding to his list of career accolades before he calls it a career. Though he apparently plans to play well into his 40s, time is still running out for him to win more titles.
James started the 2022-23 season off a bit slowly. He played in just 14 of the team’s first 20 games after suffering an injury in November. Since then, however, he has played in all but two of his team’s games.
Starting with the Lakers’ first game in December, James has averaged 30.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. While he has been masterful, his team has still failed to win at a consistent rate.
It’s been hard for James’ devoted fans to see some of his final prime years wasted playing for a front office group that seems determined to squander them.
James himself may be getting sick of that as well.
Going forward, it is really hard to predict what the Lakers will end up doing. They’ve got two highly value future draft picks that they could deal.
Whether or not James’ apparent willingness to vocalize his disappointment will have any impact on the team’s roster and future fortune remains to be seen.
