Lakers News: WVU Legend Talks LeBron James, Lakers

Former West Viriginia University point guard Darryl "Truck" Bryant spoke with Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson for a Bovada Sports segment about the current state of LeBron James and his 5-11 Los Angeles Lakers.

Check out the latest @ScoopB talks, with his guest, former WVU and world traveller @Truckbryant25 talking Lebron and the Lakers 🏀

Watch the full episode here ➡️ https://t.co/ic9E2fZoQi pic.twitter.com/LKWjDHHi5H
— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) November 23, 2022

"Honestly, I just thought they would be a lot better. I mean, you got AD healthy finally. You got LeBron, which -- he's not getting any younger, granted. But this is one conversation I have about with a lot of people, because I'm cool with a lot of NBA players. And they always told me, 'It's always about consistency, bro.' Whoever's been consistent for the longest time in the NBA, that's what we always feel is normally the best player. I mean, when you look at it, LeBron has been doing this the longest and most consistent at playing at a high level but it's getting to the point where I don't think they will be contenders at all."

Robinson echoed his sentiments. "To be honest with you, the Lakers don't really owe anybody anything anymore under this LeBron era." The Lakers won a title in their first season with James and Davis paired together, 2019-20. The subsequent 2020-21 team was more competitive than its seventh seed finish might suggest, and the club's brain trust essentially blew up its roster to get a way-past-his-prime Russell Westbrook. But at the end of the day, L.A. won a championship again, and that's what it needed to do, at least once, with James and Davis on its roster.

LeBron James, we should point out, is a team-worst -61 in the plus-minus department for Los Angeles, and has already missed five of the Lakers' 16 games this season with a left adductor strain. He's not playing any defense, and has been shying away from the rim as he has aged.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying LeBron James is actually worse than, say, Kendrick Nunn just because his plus-minus is worse. That said, Anthony Davis right now is looking like the Lakers' best player, really for the first time since he's been in L.A. So not only would this writer argue that James is not the best player in the league anymore (nor has he been for at least three seasons), he is no longer the best player on his own team.

This Lakers club is in trouble, despite its recent success sans James (the team is 3-2 in his absence, albeit against generally poorer competition). The team may need to make a trade to return to the play-in hunt.

After going undrafted out of WVU in 2012, Bryant went overseas to kick off his pro career. He has played for clubs in Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Finland, Bulgaria, Georgia (the country), and Uruguay.

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