As Los Angeles struggles at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture, some have discussed a hard reset for the franchise.
The Lakers have been a major disappointment so far this NBA season, and sit in ninth place in the Western Conference at 27–33. With last year’s early playoff exit, and some of the interesting things said by LeBron James about other franchises during All-Star Weekend, there has been some discussion about whether the two sides would be better off going in different directions after this year.
One former Lakers star who doesn’t see that being a wise idea: Shaquille O’Neal.
During an interview with CNBC, Shaq had a pretty stark warning for the Lakers: if the team trades LeBron, it will “never win again.”
“If you trade LeBron, you'll never win again, so you have to make a decision. If you put LeBron around the right guys, they are definitely going to win,” O’Neal said. “I think whoever put the team together needs to step up and try and fix it.”
During All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, the city where LeBron began his career, and later won an NBA title in a second stint with the Cavaliers, his mind seemed to be wandering beyond the task at hand in L.A.
He reiterated his plans to end his career with whichever team has his oldest son, Bronny James, and took some time to praise Thunder general manager Sam Presti.
After the second half of the season began, he made sure to walk back those comments.
“This is a franchise I see myself being with. I’m here. I’m here,” he told reporters last week.
If the team can only manage to be on the fringes of the playoff discussion despite James averaging 29 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists per night at 37-years old, it may not be outrageous to wonder if the championship window—which culminated with the 2020 NBA title—is closing far earlier than most anticipated for the LeBron-led Lakers.
Los Angeles seeks to pick up its first win since the All-Star break against Dallas on Tuesday night.
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