Since winning the NBA championship in 2020, the Los Angeles Lakers have been struggling to perform consistently. After being booed by their own fans which ended in an argument during a game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Frank Vogel’s men could not shake the losing mentality of the team following another devastating 109-104 loss versus Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
Now, with Anthony Davis sidelined to a sprained ankle, King James is fighting for the spot in the playoffs season this year. Though the Lakers might be experiencing their dark times, the 18-time NBA All-Star has not led his spirit down yet. He rejected the notion of giving up, not just yet.
LeBron James on his level of confidence they can figure out what they’ve been talking about in order to improve video courtesy of the @Lakers: pic.twitter.com/4Iqo8qk84L
— The Lakers Review (@TheLakersReview) March 2, 2022
Lakers v Pelicans, Mavericks
The four-time NBA Finals MVP still has Malik Monk, Talen Horton-Tucker, Russell Westbrook, and Dwight Howard on Sunday’s night game against the New Orleans Pelicans with 95-123.
This particular losing game left the fans displeased when they booed the Lakers’ performance and emotions went sideways when one fan got too over the limit of King James nerves. Since then, the Lakers have been even more noticed by the media.
“What do you know about basketball besides the ball going in or not going in?” James responded in a video.
Trevor Ariza also expressed his frustration with “I don’t give a f*ck what you are, you’re a b*tch!” while being restrained by his teammates.
Evidently, fans were not the only ones disappointed by their home team. Lakers owner, Jeanie Buss, was also there only until the third quarter when she left the court right before the boos came in. Sunday’s defeat dragged the Lakers to 27-33, losing five of their past six games.
With another burden on their shoulder, the Lakers’ journey towards the playoffs now seems even further. With the constant defeat, declining performance, and the team struggling to unite, some doubted this team would make it.
The game against Dallas surely added to the weight that the team has to carry. Despite already giving the effort to defeat Mavericks and James finished with 26 points, the Lakers lost another game with 104-109.
However, according to Jake Fischer, a reporter, one of Laker’s personnel still believe that “The healthy combination of LeBron James and Anthony Davis is still enough to threaten all comers for the Western Conference crown”.
LeBron: "Until you bury me 12-feet under, I got a chance. That’s my confidence … as long as we got more games to play, we still have a chance … I hate losing … I feel like poop right now. But tomorrow’s a new day, and I’m going to be prepared for the Clippers on Thursday.”
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) March 2, 2022
LeBron’s reaction
Once again, the former Cleveland Cavaliers made it to the headline sharing his aspiration towards the doubters of his team.
In a post-game conference after the Dallas game, regardless of the rough stretch, James told reporters ”We still have games to play. Until you stomp me out, cut my head off, bury me 12 feet under, then I got a chance. So that’s my confidence.”
Given his team’s poor performance, the 13-time All-NBA First Team is averaging 28.9 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game. He expressed that he is preparing himself for another game at Crypto.com Arena.
”Obviously, at the end of the day, we got to come in here and win ballgames, and we got to play better. But as long as we’ve got more games to play, we should have a chance,” James said Tuesday night.
“So, that’s my confidence. I hate losing. I feel like poop right now. But tomorrow is a new day, and I’m going to be prepared and ready for the Clippers on Thursday. That’s just—that’s my mindset. That’s just who I am.”