By Wyatt Smith (Clickege)
After being considered by some the favorites in the west, the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to a 18-25 record so far this year.
After being considered by some the favorites in the west, the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to a 18-25 record so far this year.
When the Lakers traded seemingly nothing for superstar Dwight Howard over the summer, Lakers fans were ecstatic. They had already signed run-and-gun point guard Steve Nash to a contract on July 5, which was a step-up from their point guard play the last 5 years. So when it didn't seem like the team could get any better, the Lakers go out and trade for arguably the best center in the league in Dwight Howard while giving up only an injury prone center, a few other mediocre players, and a bevy of first round picks.
With these two all-star additions, along with an already good team that made it to the playoffs last year led by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Lakers were highly touted before the season began. From radio shows in LA to sportscenter to Twitter, people were buying into this star-studded team from the start. Saying that they were going to resemble the "Showtime" Lakers from the 80's and that with their all-star lineup, along with a wealthy franchise, loyal fan base, and pretty good coach they would be unstoppable. So what went wrong?
The Lakers are a measly 18-25 and currently the 11th seed, also half a game behind the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ouch. After 5 games into the season, the Lakers fired their head coach Mike Brown because they "didn't like his offensive strategy." So what they decided to do was hire a coach who cringes at the word "defense," and expects his team to score 125 points a night with his run-and-gun style, this coach being Mike D'antoni. The only problem is that this teams average age in 29 years old, highest in the NBA and their 4 "superstars" are 38, 34, 32, and 27 years old. Along with an old bench in Steve Blake, Metta World Peace, and Antwan Jamison, it's easy to say that D'antoni was an interesting choice to coach this team.(And to give him a 3 year contract.)
Ah yes, Dwight Howard can cause a few problems. Whether it's forcing a coach to be fired, only to be traded from that team by request a month later. Or from time to time he shows little passion for the game and pouts if things don't go his way( remind you of another Lakers center? Hint: the one they just traded this offseason). So now Howard, not being the spotlight in D'antoni's offensive ways, is unhappy with the Laker organization and isn't afraid to express that. Also, Kobe Bryant is known to shoot the ball more than his fair share which is taking away possessions from Dwight. See what I mean when I say there's more than a few problems with this team?
Basically the Lakers are a dysfunctional mess that have made a questionable coaching change that's left their leader Kobe Bryant unhappy, Pau Gasol pretty much out of the picture, frustrated a once-hopeful Steve Nash, and left Dwight Howard feeling uneasy about Los Angeles and his place on the team. D'antoni better find a way to make this team gel together and win more games, now. Because this squad isn't built to win in two years, or even next year, especially if Howard decides to move on to a different team via free agency this summer. Kobe's still putting up all-star numbers for now, but he won't be able to forever. If the Lakers waste their chances with Howard and possibly the last productive year out of Gasol and Nash, then they could be looking at a much bigger problem than just not making the playoffs this year.
