The Los Angeles Lakers have failed to activate as planned, but LeBron James said Wednesday his young teammates shouldn’t take the blame.
James defended his teammates just days after he was booed during the Lakers’ 113-105 loss to the Clippers, telling reporters that “it’s unfair to them to ask for so much when they’re in their second or third year.”
“We have Zo [Lonzo Ball], Josh [Hart], Kuz [Kyle Kuzma] and B.I. [Brandon Ingram]. And we had Zu [Ivica Zubac] at the time,” James told the Los Angeles Times. “That’s like five out of our top nine guys that we rely on, and they’re in their first and second year. You can’t find one other team in our league right now that has to rely on that much every single night from their young guys that’s in their first or second year.”
Los Angeles’ nightmarish season turned ugly when the 34-year-old superstar’s agent, Rich Paul, began to advocate for a deadline deal that would’ve sent much of the team’s lineup to New Orleans in exchange for Anthony Davis.
Lakers president Magic Johnson even flew to a game against the 76ers last month in Philadelphia in an attempt to repair the team’s chemistry. But with a 30-34 record, the 11th-place Lakers now seem destined for a lottery slot.
“It’s unfair to those guys for us to continue to — we want them to learn, we want them to learn, we want them to learn — I want them to learn,” James continued. “But also we have to understand that they’re young as well and they’re going to make mistakes. You just try to limit the mistakes as much as possible.”
James has come under fire since returning from a groin injury for a lack of hustle. His antics have drawn the ire of Staples Center fans, who booed James on Wednesday as the Lakers’ playoff hopes continued to collapse.
He signed with Los Angeles in July with the hope that another superstar would join him but rumored deals to acquire Paul George or Kawhi Leonard never materialized. The Lakers weren’t able to complete any major deals at the deadline, either.
The New York Times reported earlier this week that the Lakers are expected to dismiss head coach Luke Walton at the end of the season.
