The 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers will go down as one of the worst teams in franchise history. Not only will they fail to make the playoffs but they won't even finish with a winning record, all despite making countless moves in the offseason.
Frank Vogel's team ranked in the bottom third in both offensive and defensive rating. Russell Westbrook's addition was a big failure, and the team failed to make the most of an MVP-caliber season from LeBron James.
James averaged a league-leading 30.3 points to go along with 8.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game. Even so, this will be the second time in his career that he has a losing record and the first time since his rookie year.
LeBron James' Record Per Season
2003/04 Cleveland Cavaliers: 33-46 (Missed Playoffs)*
2004/05 Cleveland Cavaliers: 42-40 (Missed Playoffs)
2005/06 Cleveland Cavaliers: 50-32 (Lost in 2nd Round)
2006/07 Cleveland Cavaliers: 50-32 (Lost NBA Finals)
2007/08 Cleveland Cavaliers: 45-37 (Lost in 2nd round)
2008/09 Cleveland Cavaliers: 66-16 (Lost in Conference Finals)
2009/10 Cleveland Cavaliers: 61-21 (Lost in 2nd Round)
2010/11 Miami Heat: 58-24 (Lost NBA Finals)
2011/12 Miami Heat: 46-20 (Won NBA Finals)
2012/13 Miami Heat: 66-16 (Won NBA Finals)
2013/14 Miami Heat: 54-28 (Lost NBA Finals)
2014/15 Cleveland Cavaliers: 53-29 (Lost NBA Finals)
2015/16 Cleveland Cavaliers: 57-25 (Won NBA Finals)
2016/17 Cleveland Cavaliers: 51-31 (Lost NBA Finals)
2017/18 Cleveland Cavaliers: 50-32 (Lost NBA Finals)
2018/19 Los Angeles Lakers: 37-45 (28-27 with James) (Missed Playoffs)
2019/20 Los Angeles Lakers: 52-19 (Won NBA Finals)
2020/21 Los Angeles Lakers: 42-30 (Lost in 1st Round)
2021/22 Los Angeles Lakers: 31-47*
LeBron James Had The Highest-Scoring Season Of His Career
But even though this season will undoubtedly be a stain in LeBron's nearly flawless career, it's also worth noting that it was also his highest-scoring campaign of all time, topping the 30.0 points per game he scored in the 2007-08 season.
James only trails Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time leading scorer and, barring injury, he's expected to top that mark next season. Hopefully, he'll do it with a better supporting cast that won't let his points go to waste.
