When the Los Angeles Lakers reeled in their big fish last summer, nabbing LeBron James in free agency, they then set upon a strange and ultimately fateful path of surrounding James, who’d been to eight straight NBA Finals playing with elite marksmen in both Miami and Cleveland, with “playmakers” instead of three-point shooters. Magic Johnson signed guys like Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson to one-year deals, then set his sights on pairing James with another major superstar.
As you know by now, Johnson’s plan backfired spectacularly. The Lakers will miss the postseason for the sixth straight season, and LeBron won’t appear in the playoffs for the first time since his second year in the league. They failed to trade for Anthony Davis after very publicly offering up half their roster for him. The team is shooting 33 percent from deep on the season, second-worst in the NBA behind only the Phoenix Suns.
While injuries to both LeBron and players like Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram certainly played a hand in derailing the Lakers 2018-2019 season, the lack of shooting reared its ugly all season long. And LeBron, who appeared to be on-board with the aforementioned signings over the offseason, shared his true feelings on the roster around him in a chat with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
What did James think of the Lakers’ grand experiment? How did he view the idea of prioritizing playmaking over shooting.
“That experiment?” James said of the roster construction for his first season in L.A.
James stared out onto the court for a moment, turned his attention back to the conversation, pursed his lips and stuck out his tongue as he trumpeted air out of his mouth, making a raspberry sound.
“THBPBPTHPT!”
The Lakers’ star player thinks Johnson and Rob Pelinka’s roster-buildings skills are the equivalent of the raspberry sound. Things are totally and completely fine in Hollywood.
