Last night, your Los Angeles Lakers dropped their fifth consecutive game, this time to the Sacramento Kings at home, bumbling a small lead in the game’s closing minutes to fall 120-114. With the defeat, L.A. slid to the worst record in the NBA at 2-10. That mark is also tied for the worst start in team history.
NBA Twitter had some thoughts. A lot of them, actually.
Let’s dive in, there’s plenty of gold here.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and in this case that sounds just about right. By the way, this picture was from the Lakers’ 139-116 blowout loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday, not this game. But we have a feeling it’s going to be a recurring vibe for the Lakers’ three priciest players throughout the year (or at least as long as Westbrook stays a Laker).
A former longtime Lakers antagonist (and one-time LeBron James teammate), retired center Kendrick Perkins, weighed in on L.A.’s deadliest opponent last night, Sacramento point guard De’Aaron Fox.
This tweet, from former Los Angeles Times sportswriter Bill Oram (now with The Oregonian), is a particularly scathing indictment of the 2022-23 Lakers:
At least Oram got to see the Lakers win a championship again in 2020 (albeit from afar, I’m not sure he was permitted to attend the “bubble” in Orlando).
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Patrick Beverley’s horrific shooting this season for L.A. went in for some brutal mockery as well.
Beverley shot 2-of-8 from the floor last night for a total of five points in 26:25. On the season, Beverley is averaging a career-worst 4.9 points per game on a brutal 28.6% shooting from the field, along with 3.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 steals.
Using a gif of a chuckling former Hall of Fame Lakers center (and a one-season LeBron James Cleveland Cavaliers teammate) is pretty appropriate.
The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor dropped a pretty devastating truth bomb in the game’s aftermath.
NBA Memes also weighed in with that above-tried-and-true classic.
This is a pretty astounding question. I would have predicted that the games of 34+ year-olds James and Westbrook would probably have declined somewhat by now, but this drastic a drop-off is bonkers. Part of it is the result of the awkward fit of Westbrook and James, two athletes who play best when the other guy isn’t on the hardwood.