The Lakers are Far From Normal

The Los Angeles Lakers have officially reached rock bottom. The product currently on the court is God-awful, un-watchable and in need of major changes. Their 48-point loss to the L.A. Clippers was the worst in franchise history. More egregious has been the ineptitude of the Lakers’ performance all season. As embarrassing, demoralizing and painful the 48-point beat down at the hands of the Clippers was to endure for all, hopefully it provided Laker management with a bit of clarity.

Hopefully management will realize that a front office leader needs to emerge so that the entire direction of the franchise’s future gets an overhaul. The head coach, General Manager and ownership have gone from being assets to liabilities which means that fans are right in donning brown paper bags… despite the fact that said bags cost .10 cents a piece in L.A.

The Lakers have not been this bad since the team resided in Minneapolis, Minn. One of several questions Lakers’ fans worldwide are asking is: who is in charge? The fans have had it with GM Mitch Kupchak. He sounds as if he is defusing a bomb when explaining what has happened to the team. And head coach Mike D’Antoni sounds as if someone is holding a gun to his head when asked the same question.

In a 30-team league, the Lakers ranked 29th in points allowed, surrendering 107.4 points per game (117 in their last 10 games) and at or near the bottom in every defensive category. They have lost 28 of their last 36 games and 13 of those losses were by 10 points of more. The role reversal between the Lakers and the Clippers has been swift and sudden. The Clippers have always played the role of ‘little brother’ to the Lakers and have had sand kicked in their face since moving to the City of Angels.

Now Los Angeles’ two professional basketball teams are reminiscent of two cars driving on the 405 Freeway… one heading north and the other heading south. All of that changed in three simple steps: 1) when the Clippers drafted Blake Griffin, 2) when former NBA Commissioner David Stern stopped the trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers and handed him to the Clippers and; 3) when head coach Doc Rivers arrived at the Clippers front office.

The real question is: Does the “two cars driving on the 405 freeway” analogy foreshadow the future of both franchises?

The Clippers looked like the Lakers when they were the Lakers in the championship years and the Lakers looked like the Clippers before the three moves mentioned before. The Clippers will be in the playoffs and in contention to represent the Western Conference for the 2013-2014 NBA Championship while the Lakers have a date with the NBA Lottery.

The 2013-2014 NBA campaign has been a lost season for the Lakers, due to injuries, ineptitude and bad decisions. The Lakers’ defense — or lack thereof — should convince everyone watching that Mike D’Antoni’s services are no longer needed and that things will get a lot worse long before they get better.

There are 20 games remaining in the season and the Lakers are just playing out the schedule. The other 29 NBA teams are like sharks smelling blood in the water. But before the purple and gold prepare to select a franchise player for their future in the lottery, the Lakers have to face the San Antonio Spurs (three times), the Oklahoma City Thunder (twice), the Clippers, the Phoenix Suns, the Golden State Warriors, the Houston Rockets, the Portland Trail Blazers, the Memphis Grizzles, the Washington Wizards, the Dallas Mavericks, the New York Knicks, the Utah Jazz and the Orlando Magic.