By Oscar Lu
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association and have been the home to many greats, including Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson.
The Lakers came in the 2021-2022 season as one of the top choices to become the NBA champions this year, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and the addition of Russell Westbrook this year. Riddled with injuries and bad chemistry, the Lakers have found themselves on a rough path to begin this season. They find themselves with the 7th seed in the western conference and a win-loss record of 8-7.
The early injuries of Lebron James and Rajon Rondo are one of the main factors for this struggle. LeBron James, and Rajon Rondo, came into this season as 2 leaders of this team, and the time they have been out, has proven this to be true. Without these main pieces, their chemistry has been horrible. The Lakers currently lead the NBA with the most turnovers per game, and it has hurt them.
Russell Westbrook has proven that he is not in his prime anymore and is not the beast he used to be. He has been very inconsistent in his shooting and is the top contributor to the turnover struggles of the Lakers. However, he is still averaging almost a triple-double every game.
In these dark times for the Lakers, there is one major bright star. And one year ago, this player was not wanted by any team in the NBA, Carmelo Anthony. He has a lot of veteran experience and has taken LeBron's leadership role while he is gone. He has been red hot when finishing off games and has been one of the best pickups for the Lakers this offseason.
Although the Lakers do not have their expected start, we will see how the rest of the season will go.