Why what the Los Angeles Lakers have will never work
By Keith Rivas
Here’s a hot take on why the young core for the Los Angeles Lakers is going to fall apart sooner than later.
Despite the absurdly high hopes of this front office, the young core that the Los Angeles Lakers have at the moment isn’t going to pan out in the long run — especially if Magic Johnson expects to deliver another championship with this group of the guys.
Having shown signs of chemistry here and there is great and all, but the negatives and warning signs are too great to ignore, even in the rookie seasons of Kyle Kuzma and Lonzo Ball. The most glaring problem comes from the comments out of the mouth of Lonzo’s father, but that’s the least of the concerns for the team at the moment.
The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t played great when Lonzo isn’t on the floor, either. What this tells me is a couple of things.
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First of all, despite Kyle Kuzma overall playing well in his rookie season — especially for where he was taken in the last draft — there’s room for concern that without a facilitator like Ball, he might not be the same player.
Put him on a team like Orlando, Brooklyn, or Phoenix and it’s not so certain that he could really play as well as he has when the Lakers have Lonzo Ball healthy and active.
Second, Brandon Ingram doesn’t seem interested in being an alpha when Magic Johnson needs him to be. Ball isn’t going to speak up against his father anytime soon, it appears, and that leaves Ingram in an awkward limbo where if Lonzo won’t step up to the plate, he’s the next on the list that needs to take charge.
And he hasn’t done that yet whatsoever.
Then, Johnson thinks that all this team needs to add is a superstar that’s already been established in the NBA. And he thinks it’s going to come in the form of at least Paul George or LeBron James in the coming summer.
Oh boy.
No true leadership, all dependent on each other and can’t function by themselves, and no gall at the top to take a stand when the locker room is under siege.
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Explain to me again how this is going to make the Los Angeles Lakers great again? Yeah, I don’t think so.