Lakers News: Famous Lakers Fan Begs Rob Pelinka To Fix Team
Following last night's listless 110-99 road loss to the Denver Nuggets, your Los Angeles Lakers fell to a brutal 0-4 record. And at least one famous L.A. fan is sick of it.
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea weighed in on Twitter with some constructive criticism for the architect of this disappointing Lakers club, team VP of operations Rob Pelinka.
Born in Melbourne, Flea immigrated to Rye, New York as a four-year-old, before finally settling in Los Angeles. He formed RHCP with high school buddies Anthony Kiedis and Hillel Slovak, and has been rocking socks on non-traditional body parts ever since.
The Chili Peppers have sold 120 million records around the globe and have been selling out arenas and stadiums since their fourth album, "Mother's Milk," exploded onto the scene in 1989. It would be their first platinum-certified record stateside, paving the way for "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" in 1991, which would go on to be certified seven times platinum. They would achieve this feat a second time with their seventh record, "Californication," in 1999. The Peppers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
The Chili Peppers have been on a tear since reuniting with classic lead guitarist John Frusciante in 2019. They've already released two full-length studio albums this year, "Unlimited Love," which debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 in April, and "Return of the Dream Canteen," which came hit #3 on the charts two weeks ago.
Flea has long been a devout Lakers fanatic. Along fellow pop music luminaries Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg, Flea was one of the talking heads mainstays in this year's epic 10-part Hulu documentary "Legacy: The True Story Of The L.A. Lakers," which covered L.A.'s 11-title run since being purchased by the Buss family in 1979. Point being, the dude knows what he's talking about.
After two straight offseasons featuring a nearly-total tear-down of the non-Anthony Davis/LeBron James elements of the Lakers roster, it sure doesn't seem like Pelinka has put his two stars in a position to win since at least the team's injury-plagued 2020-21 run. L.A. lacks shooting everywhere and size on the wing, and is paying Russell Westbrook $47.1 million to be one of the worst point guards in the NBA. Flea is absolutely right that Pelinka must make a move, either trading Westbrook and up to two future first-round picks for role-playing depth (deals with the Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Hornets, San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz all seem tenable), or moving on from James and Davis.
Yes, the latter move would be a drastic step (and the recently-extended James won't be trade-eligible until the 2023 offseason anyway), but it may be worth exploring if the team determines it can't win with one of the greatest players in the history of the game. 29-year-old Anthony Davis isn't exactly chopped liver, either.
This writer contends that L.A. should look to deal Westbrook sooner rather than later, even if it does take both of those first-round picks. The most appetizing exchange would send Myles Turner and Buddy Hield to Los Angeles. Both are solid three-point shooters (Hield is elite), and Turner is a terrific defender who would fit nicely alongside Davis in the frontcourt. If the team continues to flounder this year even with its new additions, then exploring a deal for Davis and/or James could make sense.
