Lakers Legend Rips Team After Blowout Loss to Celtics

Feb 22, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) shoots against the defense of Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers played host to the arch-rival Boston Celtics in a special game that preceded Pat Riley’s statue unveiling, with the majority of the Showtime Lakers in attendance, including Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, Jaylen Brown and the Celtics were more than ready to put on a show and embarrass their arch rivals in front of these legends, who have no love lost for the Boston franchise they battled during the ‘80s.

James Worthy Blasts Lakers for ‘No Respect’ for the Uniform

After the 22-point loss to the Celtics, Worthy, who is now an analyst for Spectrum SportsNet, didn’t hold back his thoughts about the poor performance by the storied franchise.

“No heart,” Worthy said of the Lakers’ effort. “Weak. … To me, there is no respect for this uniform.”

“They've got to decide who they want to be because right now, I'm not sure. They're a good team. I'm not taking that away from them. They're a good team. They got a lot of offensive power. But until they decide, I'm a little biased because it's the Celtics. And it was Pat Riley's statue unveiling. Just to come out like that at home was just tough to watch.”

Despite not having superstar forward Jayson Tatum, who is still working his way back from an Achilles injury he suffered during the NBA playoffs last season, the Celtics have been one of the best all-around teams in the league this season when everyone wrote them off early due to many believing they wouldn’t have arguably their best player for the entire 2025-26 campaign.

Performances like this from the Lakers, even when at full strength with Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James all healthy and playing, Los Angeles still struggles to compete with the best of the best in the NBA, which is a telling sign for what’s to come during the playoffs, as another early exit could be on the horizon.

There’s still a lot of basketball left to be played before the playoffs get underway on April 18, with the Lakers having 26 games left on the schedule. However, if the team can’t figure out how to improve defensively and compete with teams like the Celtics, the writing is on the wall that Los Angeles may not last long in the postseason yet again, especially if they fall further down the standings in the Western Conference and have to face teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs or Denver Nuggets in the first round.