LeBron James owns plenty of blame in his personal annus horribilis

Two years ago the world may have been upside down, but all was right in Laker Nation. After a decade of futility the Purple and Gold were on top of the NBA, champions once again. As the confetti fell inside a largely empty arena in the NBA bubble, the best player on the planet had made good on his promise to put the franchise “back in the position where it belongs.” Given the Lakers’ habit of hanging around the NBA finals once they finally break back in, it did indeed seem as if LeBron James & Co were only just getting warmed up. But it turns out that the heat radiating from the afterglow of that victory may well have been the earliest sign of the meltdown to come.

On Tuesday,five days before the NBA regular season’s closing curtain, the LeBron-era Lakers hit their nadir. They went to Phoenix with James sidelined through injury and fell to the Suns, 121-110, their seventh defeat in a row. To add insult to injury, the Suns loss ruled the Lakers out of the playoff’s play-in round, a lifeline James once bemoaned quite emphatically. The self-styled GOAT was even roasted at the Oscars, with co-host Regina Hall arguably landing the night’s third-most provocative joke.

Even though LA have weathered their share of bad breaks this season – not least a slew of aches, pains and Covid absences that has forced coach Frank Vogel to deploy 24 different players and 39 starting lineups – much of the blame for the Lakers’ wayward prospects should fall at the feet of James, a postseason spectator for just the fourth time in his illustrious career. After all, he isn’t just the straw that stirs the Lakers. He mixes the drink too as shadow general manager, exerting his sweeping influence from inside the locker room and through his player