No play-offs! What did the Lakers experience in the 306-day fall of light speed? It wasn’t just injuries that destroyed the Purple Gold Army this time.
On April 5 th, Beijing time, LeBron James continued to take a truce due to an ankle injury, and the Lakers suffered a seven-game losing streak in the away game against the Suns. As the Spurs beat the Nuggets in the away game, the Lakers definitely missed the play-offs, and the 2021-22 season ended in complete failure.
Last season, the Lakers barely entered the first round of the playoffs through the play-offs, and they were out, more because of the natural disasters of injuries. This season, the Lakers still haven’t escaped the natural disasters, but from last season’s first-round exit to today’s decision to miss the play-offs, the Lakers experienced a fall in the speed of light in these 306 days, not only because of the natural disasters of injuries, but also because of man-made disasters. The impact on the Lakers may even exceed the natural disasters.
For the Lakers who are determined to win the championship, what they have encountered is not only a temporary failure, but they may have lost their future. Standing at the crossroads, the Lakers looked depressed and confused at the same time.
For the second consecutive year, I was delayed by injuries.
Last season, the Lakers, who fought the richest battle, went out in the first round, more because of the shortest offseason and injury in history. As the defending champion, the Lakers just rested for 71 days and embarked on a new season journey. As a result, Anthony Davis started the season in a downturn and was injured not long after playing. Davis, who had a knee injury in the first round of the playoffs, injured his groin in the fourth game. James missed as many as 20 games in a row because of an ankle sprain, and returned to play in the playoffs at the end of the season, but his condition was obviously not at his best. Dennis Schroeder and Pau Gasol Jr. were absent for violating health and safety regulations.
After the Lakers went out in the first round, James and Davis both thought that if there were no injuries, the Lakers would not have fallen into such a miserable ending. During the offseason, James and Davis spent a lot of time recovering from injuries, and also conducted a lot of strength training aimed at avoiding the risk of injuries. But unfortunately, luck is not on the Lakers side.
James missed as many as 23 games because of abdominal strain, knee pain and sprained ankle. Davis was even worse. He was injured by his opponent’s accidental injury, and after his comeback, he played jazz and sprained his ankle when he took off to catch the ball and landed. He only played 40 games. Jamey was unlucky and was knocked down by injuries for two consecutive seasons, which was completely unexpected by the Lakers.
Last offseason, the Lakers signed kendrick Nunn for two years and 10 million dollars. At that time, it was a very cost-effective signing, and the Lakers used a precious mini middle class exception. Nunn played brilliantly in the preseason, but Nunn didn’t play for a second this season because of a knee injury. Davis said with emotion, "If I, James and Nunn were healthy, we wouldn’t be in such a dilemma."
The essence of Wei Shao’s transaction failure
The Lakers’ heartbreak for Russell Westbrook can be characterized as "failure", Vòng 28 của La Liga, Leganés vs. Varadolid and there are different opinions about who should bear the responsibility for this failed transaction. For example, Magic Johnson thinks that James should be responsible, because he named Wei Shao. By cross-comparing the information of several authoritative American media, it can be seen that Jenny Bass, the boss, is also responsible.
Regarding the Wei Shao transaction, the Lakers should not be entangled in who should bear the responsibility for this transaction, but reflect and summarize from it. Because Jenny, who is obsessed with star fame and pays more attention to box office receipts, Pelinka, who was aiming to introduce demar derozan and Hilde, and James, who contacted Wei Shao, all made the same mistake-out of touch with the times.
Neither Pelinka nor James realized what kind of point guard is the most suitable for the Lakers. This is the crux of the Lakers’ offense in the past two seasons. When James holds the ball, the Lakers’ no.1 position has poor ability to project without the ball and can’t open up space. When James and Davis played the fourth and fifth positions respectively, the first position was unable to send the ball to the inside because of its lack of projection ability. Even Malik Monk, a half-baked pick-and-roll defender with good three-point shooting ability, can unlock more styles for Zhan Mei, but Pelinka didn’t try to introduce a higher-grade pick-and-roll defender.
From the introduction of Schroeder, to the refusal to give up Tucker for Lori, to the introduction of Wei Shao, and then to the intention to trade Wei Shao for John Wall in the middle of the season, the root of the Lakers’ problem lies in the problem of consciousness. This era has entered an era dominated by pick-and-roll attack and three-point projection. In order to play the top ten attacks in the league, a defender with both peripheral projection ability and pick-and-roll attack ability is a necessity. This season, among the top 10 teams in the offensive efficiency league, only the Nuggets that Jamal Murray has not yet returned are not eligible, and all of them were eligible last season.
Gongdou, the drama that the Lakers never miss.
The Lakers have become a laughing stock this season, and the management is confused, which is a big reason. Jenny, the boss, cries out every day to create family warmth in the Lakers, and as a result, the Lakers fall into the stereotype of the traditional family business model.
As the general manager and president of the team, Pelinka should have a very high decision-making power, and Jenny only needs to make the final decision, which is the operating mode of most teams. But Jenny has built a huge think tank around her. In addition to her best friend Linda Rambis and Linda’s husband Kurt Rambis, Jenny will turn to the famous Lakers magician Johnson for help.
Earlier, The Athletic broke the news. During the whole season, Jenny frequently contacted Phil Jackson, the "Zen Master", to communicate with the team and listen to Jackson’s opinions. Jackson also came to the scene to watch the Warriors.
Rambis’s influence on Jenny has been interpreted many times before, so I don’t need to go into details. The key is the identity of magician and Zen master. They have no specific positions in the Lakers, but they have become Jenny’s shadow consultants. When the magician resigned, he fought with Pelinka, and Jenny turned to the magician for help. What would Pelinka think? Jackson and James had a lot of estrangement in those years. When he was in Knicks, he broke up with Anthony, Vòng thứ 37 của Premier League, Brighton 3-2 ở Futian, Manchester City. and James was angry with Jackson for his good brothers. Now that Jackson is involved in Lakers affairs, what will James think?
The Lakers’ palace fight also spread to coach vogel. There must be something wrong with vogel’s coaching. At the beginning of the season, vogel’s "head iron" insisted on playing with Dean Andrei Jordan, which was questioned by countless people. Including vogel’s rotation mode, lack of tactical arrangement and adjustment at the offensive end, vogel has to bear the responsibility. But is vogel responsible for the Lakers’ terrible situation? No, he is not the root cause.
Although vogel led the team to win the championship and was promoted to "champion coach", he was never "Britney Spears" in the eyes of Lakers management.
When vogel took office, the Lakers management placed a Kidd as a teaching assistant beside him. He was regarded as an insurance for the Lakers. Once the team’s record was poor, Kidd could replace vogel at any time. Last year, when the Lakers renewed vogel’s contract, they only gave him a one-year contract. It can also be seen that the Lakers are not at ease with vogel, and that the Lakers management has repeatedly forced vogel to use players. When the Lakers’ record was poor, Rambis intervened in vogel’s coaching and asked vogel to use Jordan Jr. and Howard. At the beginning, vogel was the coach introduced by Rambis, but now, Pelinka is ready to fire vogel in the offseason.
The Lakers are fighting among themselves, and there are many tricks.
There are many giants, and the Lakers are typical. This season, the Lakers have experienced various infighting. There are many contradictions, from quarrels between players, to disharmony between generals, to core players and management, and even between players and fans.
At the beginning of this season, Davis had a conflict with Dwight Howard on the sidelines. Although both sides said afterwards that it was no big deal to have a few words on the court, in fact, the hidden danger was already buried.
ESPN reported that at a video analysis meeting, Wei Shao and vogel had some tense moments. Some people inside the Lakers hoped that vogel could arrange Wei Shao to play as a substitute, but vogel didn’t listen to the suggestion. "The Athletic" also said in the insider report that Wei Shao had a bad relationship with the Lakers coaching staff. Before the trade deadline, the Lakers coaching staff pushed the Lakers to send Wei Shao away, but the trade was not completed because the Lakers needed to reverse the first round of signing and the Lakers were not sure how Wall had not played in a season.
Because of the poor performance of the Lakers, Lakers fans have been booed before, and players such as James have bickered with Lakers fans. Wei Shao angered the fans at a press conference and responded to the death threats of Lakers fans in his family.
Because of the inaction of the management, the relationship between the Lakers’ top management and James has cracked. During the All-Star Game, James made a series of remarks that triggered speculation that he might leave the Lakers, and various rumors affected the Lakers’ mentality. In order to get the team back on track, James and agent Ricky Paul met with the management of the Lakers, and released the tune that "there is no problem with the relationship between the two sides" in an attempt to calm down the dispute. But now, even Davis says that he doesn’t know what James will choose when his contract expires.
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When winning the championship in 2020, Manchester City Club erected a statue for aguero, and the Argentine star personally unveiled it. the Lakers seemed to have signs of melting ice and snow, and they were full of vitality like summer flowers. But now, the Lakers have witnessed the bleak collapse of high-rise buildings and felt the cold wind.
During the offseason, the Lakers will inevitably start the big cleaning mode from top to bottom. But can this bring the Lakers back to the top? Only time can give an answer.