by Paul Teetor
The Lakers are screwed.
That’s the simplest way to describe what has happened to them – and to their playoff chances – over the last week.
It’s all a result of the Lakers’ lost weekend.
It started Friday night when Luka Doncic suddenly stopped playing and started clutching at his left hamstring. It didn’t look like much of an injury — at first. After easing himself to the floor, he was helped up by his teammates and then was able to walk off the floor – gingerly — under his own power.
So it couldn’t be too bad, could it?
But when the official diagnosis came down Saturday, it was shattering news to Lakers players, management and fans. Luka had sustained a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and would miss at least the rest of the regular season.
Would he be back in time for the start of the NBA playoffs next Saturday?
Who the hell knows?
Then it got worse – much worse.
Luka’s pal and co-star, Austin Reaves, had been reaching over and pulling at the left side of his body all during the same game – a 139-96 blowout by the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
Then on Saturday afternoon the Lakers announced that Reaves had suffered a Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury and that, like Luka, he also would miss at least the last five games of the regular season.
Would he be back in time for the playoffs?
Who the hell knows?
Then it got even worse.
On Monday we learned that the recovery time for both injuries was remarkably similar – an estimated four to six weeks.
That timetable would mean either or both would not return until late in the second round of the playoffs – and that’s the best-case scenario.
There’s no need to explore the worst-case scenario, because there will be no second-round playoff series for the Lakers. They’re scheduled to play the Houston Rockets with Hall of Famer Kevin Durant and a supporting cast of talented young players in the first round. Without both Luka and AR, they have no chance against Houston. At most they might win one game, as 41-year-old LeBron James works hard to avoid yet another playoff sweep.
So don’t fall for any of the crazy optimistic stuff the Lakers and their mainstream media minions are throwing out there to keep hope alive — and to keep the outrageous price of courtside seats outrageously high.
The reports that Luka has left his home in Manhattan Beach to travel to Europe to investigate a miracle cure for pulled hamstrings are true. But there is no miracle cure for soft tissue injuries like his hamstring – only time can cure it.
And the Lakers don’t have enough time left to do anything but watch their season quickly go down the drain, most likely in a 4-0 or 4-1 first-round rout.
But now that the worst has happened, it’s fair to ask: what the hell was Luka doing even playing in that game at that point, at a time when the Lakers were already down 90-58 to the defending champs with 7:39 left in the third quarter.
In other words, they were losing by 32 points to the best team in the league with no hope of making up that huge deficit in the time remaining – no matter how many step-back three-pointers Luka managed to hit.
Luka should have been resting his already sore hamstring on the bench. Lakers Coach JJ Redick brushed off questions about why he still had Luka in the game, but there was no brushing off the reality of the injury. The truth is that Luka has a history of hamstring injuries and is in real danger of developing a chronic hamstring problem that could severely test his longevity as he enters the prime of his career.
The shame of it all is Luka had just had the greatest month of his career – he averaged 38 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists and was named the NBA player of the month. And he was giving an honest effort on defense – more than he had ever done before. He was even taking charges.
More important, he had led the Lakers on a 16-2 run that propelled them to third place in the Western Conference, behind only the Thunder, with MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the San Antonio Spurs, with 7-foot-4 superstar Victor Wembemyana, better known as Wemby.
But all the post-season hopes for this year have been dashed by the two devastating injuries, and now all thoughts must turn to the future.
The overarching question: will LeBron take a pay cut from his $52 million salary and return to the Lakers? Or will he, as is his right as an unrestricted free agent, sign with Cleveland for a third stint with his hometown team and try to lead them to a title?
The Lakers of this past March could look forward to a bright future. The team’s pecking order was finally set in stone: Luka the alpha dog leading the league in scoring and assists, AR the second leading scorer whose defensive deficiencies could be hidden by a team effort, and LeBron embracing the role of the third banana who does a little bit of everything and makes sure the team stays on a winning track.
Once LeBron embraced his new role in March it all came together and the Lakers could dream big. They actually had a legit chance to come out of the west and make it to the NBA Finals.
But as soon as Luka and AR were out, problems that had been simmering below the 16-2 surface suddenly came to the forefront.
Redick had been complaining about the team’s defensive intensity all year. Only four players – Luka, LeBron, point guard Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt, a defensive power forward who can’t shoot a lick – were playing championship-level defense.
But Vanderbilt wasn’t getting much playing time even after the two injuries, and his frustrations spilled over after he was yanked from a game just 16 seconds into the second quarter. He confronted Redick and had to be held back by Reaves. When asked what led to that moment, Redick cited “a confluence of things.”
Redick also subbed out Rui Hachimura 2 minutes and 27 seconds into the game. “I called the early timeout because Rui didn’t do his job, so I took him out of the game,” Redick said.
As for 7-foot center DeAndre Ayton, who had three points and three rebounds in 23 minutes, Redick also didn’t hold back on his assessment of him. “We’ve run a bunch of plays for him,” he said. “He’s just had trouble catching the ball.”
It’s a sad turn of events for a squad that had finally found its groove.
The Lakers were the league’s “it” team in March. They were beating great teams. Their chemistry was off the charts. They were golfing together off the court. And on it, they had become a fully realized version of their potential.
So the question for LeBron is simple: was that a mirage, an optical illusion, or was it real enough to convince him that he should come back to the Lakers and bet on them rediscovering that magic, duplicating the formula that had worked so well for them, next season.
It would be quite a risk for LeBron to take if his goal is to win one more title. Oklahoma and San Antonio are by far the two best teams in the league, and both are in the western conference. In any playoff run, the Lakers would first have beat one of them and then the other.
A Herculean task.
On the other hand, he would have a much better chance of getting to the NBA Finals with Cleveland, which is in the weaker Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers are already legit contenders, and would be the favorites in the east if LeBron joined them.
In late March, the odds were that he was going to re-sign with the Lakers.
But that was before their lost weekend.
Now?
Who the hell knows.
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com. ER
