The Los Angeles Lakers Are Officially Beyond Repair

By Casey Drottar @cdrottar19 on November 13, 2014

The days of the Los Angeles Lakers and their legendary dominance of the NBA seem farther and farther in the past with every game the current squad plays.

Last night, the Lakers once again put their struggles in the spotlight, losing 109-102 to the New Orleans Pelicans. Don’t be fooled by the scoreboard, the game wasn’t as close as you’d think. L.A. at one point trailed by 23, and was absolutely dominated down in the paint. The defeat brought the team’s record to an abysmal 1-7.

Now, nobody expected the Lakers to make any sort of playoff run this season. After Kobe Bryant, the drop-off in talent is alarmingly steep. And yet, the way Los Angeles is playing is still shocking.

Asked about the Lakers’ next opponent, the San Antonio Spurs, and how amazing it is they’ve been able to keep their core together, Bryant openly began pining for the days when his team was still intact and equally as successful.

“I’m extremely jealous of that,” Bryant said. “I don’t know if I can express to you how jealous I am of the fact that [Tim Duncan], [Tony Parker], [Manu Ginobili] and [Gregg Popovich] have all been together for all those years. Like, I can’t even … I can’t express to you how jealous I am of that. Not all this up and down stuff.”

“It would be like if me, [Pau Gasol], [Lamar Odom] and [Phil Jackson], if we all were just here still. It’s crazy.”

Unfortunately for Bryant, those days are long gone. What has replaced them is an absolute mess. Bryant likely feels like he’s alone on an island. His coach, Byron Scott, is preaching a style of basketball so dated you can actually see cobwebs on his playbook. A promising rookie, Julius Randle, broke his leg during the first game of the year. A team with some of the richest history in the NBA is now a league-wide laughing stock.

In a competitive Western Conference, it’s pretty easy to say this season is essentially a lost cause for the Lakers. But, will the damage be contained to just this year? Is there help around the corner which can dig this team out of the hole they’re in? Or, are the Lakers essentially miles away from the light at the end of the tunnel?

Right now, it certainly looks as if the team has way too many issues to deal with, making a turnaround this year or even next seem doubtful. The problem is the troubles plaguing this team are just too glaring for any quick fix to repair. Quite frankly, there’s not much talent, and considerably less defensive effort.

Scott was furious after last night’s performance on the defensive side of the ball, noting just how easy it was for New Orleans to just waltz right into the paint for easy points. With turnstiles like Carlos Boozer manning up down low, this has become a pretty common occurrence, leading the Lakers to land in dead last in the league when it comes to defensive efficiency.

Because of this, Scott says he’s giving this defensive scheme a few more games before trying something new. What, if I may ask, will this new and improved system do to fix the woes? The team’s been running with their current game plan since before preseason, and it’s a walking disaster. So, is implementing a new plan during the season going to make things any better?

Talent-wise, looking at the Lakers’ current roster can be a bit of a harrowing experience. There’s been a ton of press this week regarding Bryant breaking the record for most shots missed. At the same time, is there anyone else on the team you’d prefer the ball be given to when points are needed? Sure, he’s no longer a threat to score 80+, but he’s still Los Angeles’ best scoring option by quite a large margin.

Any sort of trade isn’t going to make things much better. For now, it seems the Lakers will keep living in the dreams of future free agency moves.

Sure, rumors are being brought up – by a Chicago Bulls writer, nonetheless – about Kevin Love wanting to head to Los Angeles after this season. But, tell me what exactly the appeal would be. It’s tough to see Love thinking, “you know, playing with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving is cool, but man oh man, the situation with the Lakers just looks so much better.” Is there anything attractive about this beyond the weather and getting to see Jack Nicholson on a nightly basis?

This isn’t just Love, either. There’ll be plenty of free agents this coming summer, all of which likely know exactly how things are going with the Lakers right now. It was just recently a story was leaked – by “losers,” if you ask team president Jeanie Buss – regarding a general lack of interest around the NBA towards playing with Bryant. If this is indeed true, it doesn’t exactly bode well for any sort of “wait ‘til this summer” strategy the team might be relying on. At age 36, I highly doubt Bryant is going to be changing his style of play any time soon.

Many Lakers fans had their sights set high this past offseason when it came to possible marquee acquisitions, daydreaming about the idea of James and/or Carmelo Anthony teaming up with Bryant. What they received instead was Boozer and Jeremy Lin. Who’s to say things will be any different next summer, after what’ll likely be a mind-numbingly bad season in L.A.?

When it’s November, and the Lakers’ extreme struggles on the court have already led to rumors about a potential summer signing, you know things aren’t going well at all. Unfortunately, the future doesn’t look a whole lot better. Los Angeles’ star is nearing the end of his career, and the team is being coached by someone whose style of play makes them unwatchable.

Brace yourselves, Lakers fans, what you see now might only be the beginning of a long road back to the glory days.

Casey Drottar is a Featured Columnist for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @CDrottar19 or “Like” him on Facebook