Post#428 » by gigantes » Wed Mar 6, 2019 6:11 am
From the Late Night Editorial Dept:
It's mighty tempting to gleefully revel in the Lakers crash-and-burn season, but honestly, I don't think it's quite as bad as it looks. Because much like the Nets, they were never going to knock off their conference's elites this season, or likely get even close to that. On the plus side, I suspect they also got a pretty good picture of what worked and what didn't work this season, trying to build around LeBron with somewhat novel methodologies. And now they have this summer to significantly change course and significantly upgrade. Cool.
At the same time, it's getting harder to conceive of this funny experiment one day actually working. Not just because LeBron (as amazing as his health & conditioning programs are) will continue to drift out of his prime, but also because he's surrounded by such relentless mediocrity at almost every level of the org, from Jeanie Buss, to Magic, to Hluke Hwalton, to LeBron's current castmates... to LeBron's own GM abilities.
Now I can totally see the team 'getting it all together' in the next 1-3 years or so, yet that still not being nearly enough against the West's best. Which isn't any kind of tragedy, honestly, but it does seem like a particularly underwhelming way for one of the greats to go out. Or maybe we're just spoiled and kinda rubbernecking, here. But IMO seldom does a player pull your undivided attention towards their actions the way LeBron consistently does, for better or worst. Methinks this is going to be a pretty awkward ride, no matter how it plays out, exactly.
