LAL’s worst seasons, 1

This season’s edition of the Los Angeles Lakers are drowning in the deep, deep pond of losses and it would be better if they miss the playoffs. Doing so will give LeBron James ample time to rest and for the injury-prone Anthony Davis to heal properly. Management can also think long and hard and examine their consciences on what to do with their roster, and maybe their coaching staff. The win-now playbook drowned in the lake of awfulness.

Let’s admit it. The Laker offense sucks when LeBron sits on the bench. He could be accused of stat-padding but it is absolutely necessary for the team to get those elusive Ws, considering that coach Frank Vogel, in my opinion, use some confusing combinations on the floor, mostly playing small.  Kristaps Porzingis promptly abused them when they played at Washington.

The underperforming 17-time champions had gotten the purple-blooded faithful bleed dry with all the losses.  Having a 31-41 win-loss record (as of this writing), they sit at 9th in the Western Conference standings, winning only 4 of their last 11 games. But the 2021-2022 season is not the baddest of them all.

The 2010s generally had been a woeful decade for the purple and gold, specifically the period between 2014 to 2017. Let’s check out some of the most dismal seasons of the LA Lakers.

2015-2016 (17-65 season record)

The Lakers had rookies D’Angelo Russell and Larry Nance, Jr. along with sophomores Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle to compliment an injury-hobbled Kobe Bryant, but they were still young and raw to make an impact.  Doing major backup to Kobe then were Lou Williams, Nick Young and Brandon Bass. Coached by Byron Scott, they finished last in the WC standings but this futile record can be erased from memory considering that this was Kobe’s final season, where he dropped 60 points on his farewell dance.

1957-1958 (19-53 season record)

The Lakers were then still based in Minneapolis. At the end of the 1956-57 season, coach John Kundla resigned and moved to the front office. George Mikan called the shots for the team. Following a 9-30 start, Mikan resigned and Kundla returned to coach the team. They finished last in their division and missed the playoffs, a first in the franchise’s 10-year existence.

More on the hapless seasons of LAL next week.