LeBron James Confesses a Painful Fact About Lakers That He Hasn’t Since the Anthony Davis Trade

In 2019, the Los Angeles Lakers traded several pieces of their young core in order to pair up LeBron James with Anthony Davis. And the trade worked.

That season, the title came back to LA with incredible performances from LeBron and AD. So it was clear that the duo formed the core of the franchise around which the rest of the team would be built.

However, since that championship, the Lakers have never been able to dominate like they used to. In fact, this season has been extremely dismal for the franchise. Although they have kept both LeBron and AD, the many roster changes that the team underwent have not resulted in success.

Moreover, with AD injured, LeBron has had to manage the load on his own. Following the blowout loss to the Suns, LeBron addressed reporters on what AD’s return would mean for the Lakers.

LeBron James on Anthony Davis and the Lakers

When questioned about how AD’s return will help the team, LeBron had the following to say.

“It puts a bandaid on some things. But we just haven’t had enough chemistry, enough time with our group to be able to know exactly who we are and what we can become,” said LeBron.

“AD definitely helps. But it’s not the answer to all the questions,” he added.

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Clearly, LeBron feels that even with AD’s return, it will be a difficult task to achieve success for the Lakers. This, of course, isn’t a reality check on Davis’ ability as a star player. It is more of the outstanding chemistry issues that the Lakers have even with AD present.

The Reasons Behind the Issues

One of the reasons for the lack of chemistry is the presence of many new faces on the team. At the start of the season, the Lakers traded some of their key players like Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Montrezl Harrell. In exchange, they received Russell Westbrook with the aim of forming a big three alongside AD and LeBron.

Moreover, they did not re-sign Alex Caruso. In fact, the team they have this season is completely new apart from LeBron, AD, and THT. Furthermore, they even signed several vets, such as Wayne Ellington, Trevor Ariza, and Carmelo Anthony. Moreover, their new signing of Kendrick Nunn has not even suited up for the team this season.

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Another reason is injuries. With many of the players riddled with injuries, along with constantly changing lineups, the Lakers have never been able to establish a rhythm. Additionally, the Lakers also have endured defensive issues this season.

At present, they concede 113.6 points per game. This number ranks 27th among the 30 teams in the NBA. Moreover, this is a drastic drop in performance for a team that was ranked 2nd and 4th in the same category over the last 2 seasons.

So it is quite evident as to why the Lakers’ season has been a failure. As they continue to drop games, one can only hope that AD returns soon. This will help the franchise salvage a few more wins in the hopes of a postseason appearance.