Disaster. Dumpster fire. Train wreck. Pick your favorite term to describe this year’s NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers. A team filled with talent – including King James – has not been able to deliver in the win column. At least not yet. But time is running out.
Yes, this season has been a real bummer for the Lakers and their fans. And one of the team’s biggest fans – legendary star player Shaquille O’Neal – thinks it’s time for some major changes moving ahead.\
In an appearance on CBS Sports HQ, Shaq said he’d like to see Lakers management clean house. And he means it! O’Neal openly said he’d keep two players – LeBron James and Anthony Davis (AD), and get rid of everyone else!
Yes, the team has plenty of talent on this year’s roster. Still, numbers in the wins and losses columns are the only thing that counts, and in that department, the Lakers have been a disappointment for sure. As of this writing, the Lakers sport a record of 31-47 with just a handful of regular-season games left to play.
Shaq: “You’ve got to get rid of expiring contracts. You’ve got to get rid of the projects that didn’t work. You’ve got to try and get younger and more athletic around LeBron,” O’Neal said.
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Along with LeBron, Shaq likes the idea of keeping Anthony Davis. AD has had a good season, scoring an average of 23.2 points per game and snagging 9.8 rebounds while playing an average of just over 35 minutes per game.
After winning the 2019-20 NBA championship, it’s been a couple of tough years for the Lakers. They finished in seventh place in the West last season, and this year looks no better – if not worse.
Things were supposed to be better this season. A big trade brought Russell Westbrook, and the Lakers got some buzz about a deep playoff run this year. Well, not so much…
Some of the trouble has been “regular” issues like injuries. Both James and Davis missed time with various injuries. (Indeed, LeBron has been sidelined this week and may not return for regular season games.)
Will Los Angeles make the playoffs? Hard to say. With only a small handful of games left, the Lakers are currently 1.5 games out of a play-in spot.
While Shaq did not mention the name of Lakers coach Frank Vogel, he’s probably not going to be with the team next season either. Reporter Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports had a recent post that said Vogel will most likely stay with the team for the remainder of the season, but that’s it.
There had been talk that Vogel would be dumped even before the end of the season, but that’s now unlikely. In his post, Haynes said, “I feel like the Lakers are moving forward and going to allow him to finish out the season as head coach. It was dicey there these last couple of weeks. Definitely the Lakers were considering making a move.”
Of course Vogel has no control over issues like injuries, but it’s still an almost sure bet that he’ll be fired at the end of the season, especially if there’s no playoff berth for the Lakers.
Should be an interesting off season… Stay tuned!