Who’s to Blame for the Lakers’ Failures? (And How Can They Be Fixed?)
Well, they’ve done it. As of right now, the Lakers are out of the Play-in Tournament. As if this disaster of a season couldn’t get any worse, a team that had championship aspirations and expectations has now completely blown their chances of reaching that level.
So, standing at 11th in the West with a 31–44 record, who is to blame for this colossal failure of a season? And how, if any, can their problems be solved?
First off, the front office absolutely deserves the blame they get for their role in the roster construction. From approving LeBron and AD’s request to trade for Westbrook (more on that later) to letting key players go in free agency, Jeanie Buss and co. have a lot of explaining and retooling to do this summer. Had they not gone for a family reunion this season, bringing back familiar faces such as Kent Bazemore, Dwight Howard, and Wayne Ellington, things would be a lot brighter for the Lakers this year. But since they copped out and decided to be embarrassingly cheap (aside from paying THT $30M+ over three years), they now have to live with the consequences.
Speaking of living with the consequences, LeBron and Anthony Davis equally deserve to be in this conversation as well. Instead of running it back with the members of a team that won a title two years ago, they decided to shake things up in La La Land to the point of no return. Now, they have to accept the fact they built a team that can’t contend for a title, despite how the team looked on paper before the season started. They say “Control what you can control,” and given the power both of them have when it comes to roster construction, they could have easily made their lives — and the lives of everyone else — a lot easier.
Finally, Frank Vogel deserves the most blame out of all parties involved this season. I have already explained how horrendous Vogel has been this year, but his inability to make good decisions that maintain leads and win games has led the Lakers to be where they are right now. His lack of adjustments in a must-win game against the Pelicans was one of the last dominos to fall, and the most recent loss against the Mavericks finally led him to have some accountability, saying their play was “not acceptable and just a poor performance across the board. Players, coaches, everybody.” Vogel’s job security has been put in question before, but it may be this stretch of the season that puts the nail in the coffin of his Laker coaching career.
Though nothing can be done in the remaining games of the season, the Lakers can turn things around in the offseason. It starts with change from the top down, so there should be some sort of shift within the front office, whether it means firing some people or elevating highly qualified ones to better positions. Nonetheless, an effective reshuffling of the front office will do everyone good. From there, a coaching change is most certainly in order, particularly with coaches who can succeed on both sides of the ball, not just specializing in offense or defense. Quin Snyder has been a name that Laker fans have been mentioning, even after the Jazz’s inexcusable loss to Paul George and the Clippers. Finally, outside of LeBron, AD, and a select few Lakers that have proven their worth this season, there are definitely moves that need to be made in the summer, and it starts with the Lakers following the formula that won them the 2020 championship: LeBron, AD, and 3-and-D players. If all of these changes are made, then — and only then — will the Lakers be close to returning to the Promised Land.
