Time for the Lakers to evaluate the future

Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors weren’t good enough to make it to the first round of the NBA playoffs. Keven Durant and the Phoenix Suns were swept in four games by the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are one and done after the Denver Nuggets took them out of the postseason after five games. 

This is not an abbreviation. Or a mistake. Between Curry, James, and Durant, the three future Hall of Famers have 10 NBA championships. That doesn’t matter now. What matters is what’s current.     

The reality for the Lakers is that if they do not acquire another superstar talent soon, the LeBron James era will have come and gone with one abbreviated title which took place during the pandemic year of 2020. 

That would be a shame. But then again, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is a young man’s game. The game of basketball does not wait on anyone. You come. You’re there. You play, and then you depart. After 20 seasons of basketball in the NBA, James is a lot closer to leaving.

James has won four championships during his career. It now looks like he may not win another unless some miracle happens. That’s because a new era of basketball has stamped itself on the NBA landscape. 

James and the Lakers are out of the NBA playoffs after participating in just one round of action. Last season, the Lakers made it to the Western Conference Finals where they succumbed to the more superior Denver Nuggets. 

After sweeping the Lakers in four games, the Nuggets advanced to the NBA Finals where they claimed their franchise title. The Nuggets kicked James and the Lakers out of the postseason again. This time it took five games instead of four. 

The Nuggets used to be patsies in the NBA, one of those teams that always lingered at the bottom of the NBA. That’s not the case anymore. Until someone says otherwise, the Nuggets are the best team in the league. 

While the Lakers have relied on tradition and an aging superstar to keep their mythical tradition alive, the Nuggets have gone out and secured the services of players in their prime. Players like Jamal Murray, who cold-heartedly dropped daggers in two of the four games against the Lakers to give Los Angeles the boot from the postseason. 

Murray shot a dropback fadeaway over Anthony Davis with no time left in regulation of Game 2 to hand the Lakers a heartbreaking loss. Murray did it again to the Lakers in Game 5. With a possible Game 6 riding on the outcome of Game 5, the Lakers played the Nuggets down to the wire. 

Once again, the Lakers left Murray alone on an island to go one-on-one with a singular defender with time winding down in the fourth quarter as they did in Game 2. And once again, Murray burned the Lakers for their miscalculation. 

Much like the way the Lakers played in Game 2, Murray was allowed to walk the ball up the court unimpeded and allowed to set up his game-winning shot. It was a bad call by the Lakers. Those decisions may wind up getting head coach Darvin Ham fired after two seasons of guiding the team.

Ham is not why the Lakers have not beaten the Nuggets in 12 of the last 13 games they have played one another. There is some blame to shoulder for Ham, but he cannot be the singular reason why the Lakers have finished 1-8 in the two postseasons against the Nuggets. 

The truth is that the Lakers are not good enough anymore. The days of just showing up and stepping on the court meant victory is gone. The Lakers need to make a move this offseason to bring in another big-name talent to play alongside James (if he sticks around) and Anthony Davis (who is always hurt). 

What is James going to do outside of being a box-office draw? Yes, James can still play basketball. Michael Jordan could still play after he left the Chicago Bulls, but he never won another championship after leaving the Windy City. 

James is no longer the player who can will his team to a title. He needs help. A lot of it. That is just a fact. And other NBA teams are no longer beholden to the Lakers or are eager to help them to stay on top. Those other teams want their own traditions, parades and championship rings. 

Speaking of rings, unless Santa Claus is kind enough to bring some from the North Pole, it might be a long wait before the Lakers are fitted again for one inscribed with purple and gold on it.   

Top Image Caption: Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) scored 31 points against the Washington Wizards on Feb. 29, 2024. Photo by Mark Hammond/Courtesy of The Bulletin/File