The 2015-2016 Los Angeles Lakers are bad. Very bad.
So bad that with their 101-82 loss at home to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night, they’ve now tied a franchise-record losing streak of 10 games.
Lakers have lost 10 games in a row, tied for the longest losing streak in franchise history (1993-94 season)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 1, 2016
Is right now the lowest moment of the Lakers’ franchise?
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) February 1, 2016
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) February 1, 2016
So bad that the Lakers will enter February with a losing streak longer than the amount of games they’ve won total on the season.
Phil Jackson used to say he wanted to get to 40 wins before 20 losses. Lakers now have 41 losses to their 9 wins. — Darius Soriano (@forumbluegold) February 1, 2016
The Lakers and Knicks essentially attempted the same offseason plan. One team is 9-41 and the other is 23-27. — Bryan Gibberman (@Gibberman10) February 1, 2016
I happened to watch much of Sunday night’s (awful) game and had on the Lakers postgame show, which featured several honest takes about how embarrassing the team is right now. And note- everyone realizes this is a below-average roster in terms of talent, but the team’s effort and fundamentals are being heavily questioned.
Lakers great and NBA Hall of Famer James Worthy — currently a Lakers postgame analyst — was very critical of the team. Example:
“They don’t move the ball! You can’t win playing 1-on-1 basketball in this league.”
Another Lakers great in Robert Horry — also a Lakers postgame analyst — echoed Worthy’s thoughts:
“Right now when you watch this team, it’s all 1-on-1 plays.”
Lakers forward Julius Randle explained how the Hornets simply displayed more effort than the Lakers did on Sunday night, and how that’s inexcusable:
They just played harder than us. They may outexecute us, they may make more shots than us… some things out of our control. But we can’t allow them to play harder than us.
Julius Randle on Charlotte 59-42 rebounding edge: “They just played harder. They came out with a better mindset.” #Lakers — Bob Garcia IV (@bgarcia90) February 1, 2016
Julius Randle: “I’ve never experienced anything like this so I have no clue how to deal with it.” — Michael Pina (@MichaelVPina) February 1, 2016
As Randle said, if a team beats you because of more talent or because they made some shots, that’s one thing. Losing because of effort is a problem. Losing because of players not moving the ball as as Worthy and Horry talked about, is a problem.
I really, seriously NEVER thought I’d say this.
The Lakers, at least from a distance, seem to have a culture problem
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) February 1, 2016
When a team’s effort and fundamentals are being questioned like this, that’s a very bad reflection on the coaching staff (fair or not). Add in a 9-41 record, a franchise record-tying losing streak, and the worst coaching record in franchise history… you have to wonder how much longer Byron Scott is the Lakers’ head coach.
