The Los Angeles Lakers' playoff hopes to suffer another major blow after losing an important game against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
It was the sixth straight loss for the Lakers, with their superstar forward LeBron James sitting out due to an ankle sprain. Though he played in the Friday losing game against the Pelicans.
With 31 wins and 47 losses, the team is now in 11th place in the standings, two games behind the San Antonio Spurs for the final position in the play-in tournament, as per CBS Sports report.
The Lakers hopes to make it to the playoffs are not officially over but their play-in chances are bleak with a rough end-of-season schedule that includes games against the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, and another matchup with the Nuggets.
The team's current situation is the "biggest thing" that Anthony Davis "personally " thinks about: what could have been if the Lakers stayed healthy throughout the regular season.
This season hasn't really worked well as the Lakers had intended, and key players James and Davis have been sidelined due to injury.
James has competed in 56 games, whereas Davis has only played in 39. Furthermore, Russell Westbrook's chemistry with the team has been questionable.
At the start of the season, many predicted that the squad to be legitimate title contenders. But it is upsetting to see them losing many games and now competing for the final play-in berth.
Shaq's Suggestion To Fix the Lakers
Despite their precarious situation, the Lakers maintain a positive attitude. But it is apparent that this season has been a disaster for the franchise.
Lakers legend Shaquille O'Neal believes that it is time to do drastic changes in the line-up for redemption next season.
In a guesting on CBS Sports HQ, O'Neal proposed "to get rid" of players with expiring contracts as well as "the projects that didn't work."
He said that LeBron James and Davis are the ones who should only remain on the roster.
"You've got to try and get younger and more athletic around LeBron," Shaq, who led the Lakers' three-peat in the early 2000s, said.
Lakers Legend Criticizes LeBron
Meanwhile, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, also a Lakers legend, once again criticized James for the latter's positions that affect the Black community.
The inventor of the Sky Hook was interviewed by the media after presenting Carmelo Anthony with the NBA Social Justice Champion award on Sunday.
Abdul-Jabbar praised James' efforts in uplifting lives in the community especially his "amazing" full college scholarships through the "I Promise" school in Ohio. Though, the basketball legend said that James should do more, as reported by Sports Illustrated.
He noted that he is "not throwing stones" at James. "I just wish he wouldn't, you know, some of the things he's done, he should be embarrassed about. That's just where I'm coming from."
Abdul-Jabbar, an active supporter of the COVID-19 vaccine, chastised James for a social media post equating COVID-19 to the flu and the common cold in December. Abdul-Jabbar labeled James's remark a "blow" to his deserved "legacy" in an essay published on Substack.
The six-time champ wrote "LeBron is a necessary and dynamic voice critical of police brutality against the Black community" therefore he needs to be the "same necessary and dynamic advocate with vaccines, which could save thousands of Black lives" nowadays.
As of present writing, James has not yet responded to Abdul-Jabbar's criticisms, but the latter said he is open for a dialogue.
