“I don’t think I see that spark” LeBron James’ former teammate claims the King has lost his groove amid Lakers SLUGGISH start
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LeBron James and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a current player for the Denver Nuggets and a former teammate of LeBron James, recently gave an honest evaluation of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ current state of affairs. Things have gone so terrible for them that just nine games into the season, supporters have already started to lose hope in the squad and LeBron’s form has also become a major source of concern.
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are undoubtedly having a difficult time right now. The Los Angeles Lakers have a 2-9 record to begin the 2022–23 season after falling to the Los Angeles Clippers last night. The Lakers had a terrible start to the year, losing their first five games just as it seemed like they were turning the turnaround. They defeated Denver and New Orleans last week with spectacular victories, but since then they have lost consecutive games again. James’ former teammate KCP had some condemnation for this.
Before the Lakers-Nuggets game last month, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope spoke with ESPN about how he believes James is prepared to be the best version of himself as he enters the last stages of his career. He stated: “So from me to him, just get the team together, and I just want to see that spark in him again. I don’t think I see that spark in Bron. So, hopefully, he can get it back.” When asked about Lakers, he said: “Just watching the games, it just looks like there’s no basketball over there. It’s just playing pickup. It’s hard to watch sometimes.”
What happened to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers?
When the Lakers’ team is so poorly constructed and a big part of their issue is a lack of good role players, there isn’t much to do. This is remarkable considering that they featured players like Rajon Rondo, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Alex Caruso who all made significant contributions and helped them win a title in just 2020. All of those players were later able to leave the team or were traded away and LeBron James was left with an injury prone Anthony Davis and an inconsistent Russell Westbrook was brought in.
LeBron James’ 19th NBA season came to an end after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 33-49 record prevented them from moving on to the Play-In round. James spent four seasons with the LA Lakers, where he won one championship, lost twice in the opening round, and missed two NBA Playoffs. Players have missed many games due to injury over the past three seasons, which has hampered the team’s consistency. Lebron, Davis, and Westbrook, the “big three,” were supposed to make a difference last season and are still failing in doing so.
James and the Lakers are still having trouble
James has demonstrated the capacity to improve teams through his performance over the course of his prolonged existence in the NBA. He has the ability to elevate any squad to the top, but it appears that in Year 20, those abilities are beginning to decrease. James is averaging 24.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 6.9 assists over ten games this season but his efficiency is lacking. Veterans Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant have also been sidelined by injury for the team and only two players, including James and Anthony Davis, have an average of more than 10 points per game.
LeBron James is most likely going to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar this season in terms of career regular-season scoring totals. The King is poised to accomplish a historic feat, but if the Lakers keep losing, it will probably be overshadowed. The present roster isn’t good enough, which might mean that one of James’s handful final seasons is wasted. The Lakers need to find a solution right soon because they cannot afford to lose any games in a tough Western Conference, whether it be through internal development or a significant deal.
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Irvin Philip
(701 Articles Published)