Every time you think the 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers have hit rock bottom, they show that they can still disappoint you. This time, they blew a chance to beat the bottom-feeding Houston Rockets, dropping a must-win game in overtime.
The Lakers can’t seem to get a stop to save their lives. Their body language says they’ve given up on the season already, and their defensive effort has been far from what you’d expect from a team coached by Frank Vogel.
But perhaps what worries most is their attitude. That’s why Lakers legend James Worthy didn’t mince his words after the loss, calling them out again for giving up and lacking the tenacity to play their way out of this slump.
James Worthy Puts The Lakers On Blast After Overtime Loss To Rockets
“I thought the Lakers played well enough to win in 4 quarters, except they missed a lot of free throws… They moved the ball, they had 25 or so assists,” Worthy started.“To me, it looks like… at the beginning of the season, there was a lot of expectations of this team to win. And I think they are at a point where they know they’re not going to meet those expectations.”
“Even without AD and the injuries and all that, it’s not an excuse,” Worthy added. “They should be better than this. All the things that they’ve experienced, injuries, protocol. They still should be somewhere around 6 or 7 in my opinion. They didn’t start out the season serious, with preseason, they were waiting around.”
“Now I think they realize they can’t win,” he explained. “This is what I’m seeing. They can’t beat the Suns or the best teams. I don’t know man, they’re not dead on arrival, but they just don’t have that tenacity, they don’t have that will to play their way out of this, even to get into the play-in game. You would think they might be able to with a healthy team. It doesn’t seem like they believe in anything they are doing.”
The Lakers won’t make the playoffs this season. It’s as simple as that. And even if they manage to hold on to the 9th seed and by any chance get out of the play-in tournament, they’re looking at a first-round sweep.
