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Lakers News: Fans Show No Mercy After Latest L.A. Loss

Fans are disillusioned with these new-look Lakers.
Alex Kirschenbaum|
Lakers News: Fans Show No Mercy After Latest L.A. Loss
Lakers News: Fans Show No Mercy After Latest L.A. Loss

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Los Angeles Lakers fans were not exactly thrilled with the team's third loss in four days Monday, a 139-116 blowout defeat at the hands of the Utah Jazz, who surprisingly have emerged as the best team in the West by record, thanks to a stunning 9-3 start. For what it's worth, three Lakers starters (Patrick Beverley, Lonnie Walker IV, and most importantly LeBron James) were all sidelined.

L.A. fans took to, where else, Twitter to weigh in on the current sorry state of the team, who at 2-8 now occupies the 14th seed in the Western Conference.

The name of widely-loathed ex-Laker Smush Parker was even invoked:

Parker numbered among several less-than-stellar players brought in to surround Kobe Bryant during his peak, in the lost years between his multiple NBA Finals appearances. Even Parker's Laker teams never started off the year 2-8. Parker left Los Angeles in the summer of 2007, when he signed with the Miami Heat. Bryant later derided the 6'4" Parker as his teammate only because the Lakers were "too cheap" to add a legitimate starter at the position. After the 2007-08 season (which Parker ended on the Clippers), he bounced around several international and alternate national leagues. He finally finished his pro career in 2017-18 with the Albany Patroons.

Athletic Laker-turned-Jazzman Talen Horton-Tucker's emphatic slam dunk against Damian Jones rubbed some Los Angeles fans the wrong way:

The flush was so mighty that it had fans wearing some seriously rose-tinted glasses while appraising THT's Los Angeles run:

Patrick Beverley was pretty darn good, right up until he donned the purple-and-gold. Horton-Tucker has always shown promise, but has yet to truly put things together consistently.

Another fan (fairly) listed the names of every Laker not named LeBron James, Anthony Davis or Russell Westbrook:

There is a solution to all of this. Unfortunately, it most likely involves moving on from fan favorite sixth man Russell Westbrook. Los Angeles would have to sacrifice some future draft equity, its 2027 and 2029 first-round picks, to get a deal done, thanks to Westbrook's overinflated $47.1 million price tag. The club could potentially get back multiple solid role players in a trade for Westbrook, but it would most likely not be enough to get the Lakers back to true contention status. Still, it does feel like a bit of a waste to saddle LeBron James with so little high-level help.

Another option would be trying to ship out Davis himself, which per Bill Simmons at least is kinda/sorta on the table now. AD is not the same two-way talent he was before he was beset by injuries during the last two seasons, but he remains a very talented big man, especially on defense. Davis presumably has more trade value than Westbrook (i.e. the Lakers would not need to surrender draft picks) because he's better, but his injury history could limit his suitors, and, more importantly, could L.A. actually improve its present team if it shipped out its second-best player?

The Lakers could get more depth back while still returning a very good starter or two (Simmons floated Julius Randle, Nikola Vucevic, and Draymond Green as the possible centerpieces of a few hypothetical AD trades) and preserving those draft picks. This could be the easiest way for the team to both compete (somewhat) in the present while still reaping the rewards of its possible lottery-bound future.

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Alex Kirschenbaum
ALEX KIRSCHENBAUM

Currently also a scribe for Newsweek, Hoops Rumors, The Sporting News and "Gremlins" director Joe Dante's film site Trailers From Hell, Alex is an alum of Men's Journal, Grizzlies fan site Grizzly Bear Blues, and Bulls fan sites Blog-A-Bull and Pippen Ain't Easy, among others.

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