Lakers are going hard after the number one pick- as told by Lakers fan

[chambers]

Interesting story from a Lakers veteran fan...FYI He's a plastic surgeon/basketball fanatic.
 He says they have the talent to be a  .500 team, while I think it's more like they have the talent to be a .400 team, the point stands.
He says management is in on it with Scott and it's a blatant tank. I have to agree with him.
He also took this photo of Kobe drawing up a play with Scott completely out of the picture.
Looks like they are trying to put Simmons in there with Randle and Russell.....

I watch a LOT of basketball. I've seen almost every Laker game in the last 10 years, via cable or streaming. Going to a game is a very telling experience. You see things that the cameras don't show you during timeouts, and tv timeouts. All year I've been wondering why we're so terrible, why we're playing stagnant offense and uninspired defense. Last night I got my answer.
I was sitting behind the LA bench, not close enough to hear conversations but close enough to see body language and little things like how the guys act with each other. I'll say this as simply as I can. Not one person on that team likes playing for Byron Scott. He offered high fives to a few players at dead balls and rarely got them. The rest of the game he sat there with his arms crossed, not giving instruction. Most of the time, Kobe and D'Lo just walked by him on their way to the bench without saying anything.
On top of that, he wasn't even coaching for half of the game at least. He would walk out onto the court with assistant coaches and huddle up with them, meanwhile Kobe is in a players only huddle with a clipboard drawing up plays. There's zero excuse for that. Those two things are bad enough, without even mentioning the horrendous substitution patterns. Metta was playing lockdown defense with Bass and Hibbert, so what happened?Byron benched him. Kobe got a good rhythm going, got benched. D'Lo starts getting in the flow of the game? Bench. I honestly think that ownership and management instructed Byron to tank again, because there's no way this team should be 1-8. They're a .500 team at least, they just need a competent coach. It's so depressing. There's no way Byron Scott should be an NBA head coach when Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, Avery Johnson are available. All of those coaches have their own issues but they produce wins.




https://www.reddit.com/r/lakers/comments/3st1zg/if_anyone_wonders_why_we_suck/

[kne]

If this is true - and I am not saying it is not - it is a sad display of disrespect to Kobe Bryant. I know we never have any lottery luck, but karma has to come into play at a certain point.

[KGs Knee]

The Lakers are smart to lose as much as possible. Maybe it's a shame for Kobe to go out like this, but he's the one who signed a contract that hamstrung the team from luring any other big free agents. They had cap space but couldn't use it. They had no other choice but to tank.

On top of that, since they still owe first round picks to Philly and Orlando (protected), it makes sense for them to try to keep the pick this year. Why delay the inevitable? They don't really have many option to improve outside if the draft. Not sure what Lou Williams, Bass and Nick Young could get on the trade market. Probably not much.

My guess is Kobe has made peace with the fact his last few years in the league he was a part of a bottom 5 team. Plus, dude getting paid.

[KGs Knee]

But yeah, tanking is gross and as a fan I think it's despicable. But it's shrewd, when done with a clear plan in mind. We'll see if their plan works better than the Sixer's has so far.

[apc]

I am cheering for Lakers wins. i would be p---ed if they get a top 3 pick!

[PhoSita]

I've got not doubt Byron is a poor coach, and less doubt that he lost the team before the season began.

That said, it's the height of Laker-fan fantasy that this Lakers team is a ".500 team at least."

[Monkhouse]

I've got not doubt Byron is a poor coach, and less doubt that he lost the team before the season began.

That said, it's the height of Laker-fan fantasy that this Lakers team is a ".500 team at least."

Just don't see the Lakers ending up with a top 3 pick, no matter how bad they are.

Nets, 76ers, Blazers, and even SAC may sink if they do badly with injuries. That being said the Lakers may sneak into a top 3 pick, considering I kind of slotted them as the top seven worst team in the league.

[Who]

The reasoning sounds like nonsense to me.

It's no surprise this team is having bad chemistry. It is a horribly constructed team with a load of me-first (offensively) guys on the team who were always going to struggle playing together. The Lakers were never going to be a .500 team this year. They were always going to be in or around the bottom 5 teams in the league.

[trickybilly]

So he selfishly ruined the franchise for 4 years... something to be said for being 1 franchise guy in this day and age...*looks at ainge re Marcus smart.

[Big333223]

On the one hand, claiming that this Lakers team has the talent to be .500 is delusional.

On the other hand, the Lakers losing as much as possible this season and then building around a top 3 2016 pick, Russell, and Randle makes the most sense.

My sincere hope is that the Lakers wind up with the 3rd worst record but wind up with the 4th pick in the lottery. But it won't happen, because they're the Lakers.

[chambers]

I've got not doubt Byron is a poor coach, and less doubt that he lost the team before the season began.

That said, it's the height of Laker-fan fantasy that this Lakers team is a ".500 team at least."

Just don't see the Lakers ending up with a top 3 pick, no matter how bad they are.

Nets, 76ers, Blazers, and even SAC may sink if they do badly with injuries. That being said the Lakers may sneak into a top 3 pick, considering I kind of slotted them as the top seven worst team in the league.

It looks like they are blatantly tanking though.
They are purposely losing to those teams is the suggestion by this fan.
They're at least 50/50 to finish bottom 3.
When the management and coach are in on it, it becomes a mission of the franchise and it's more important than anything else.

[Granath]

The fan is delusional if he thinks the Lakers are a ".500 team at least". At best they're a 25-30 win team. They're horrible.

I think having all of these teams blatantly tanking - and tanking seasons right from the start - is really bad for the NBA. It's one thing to realize a season is lost at the All-Star break and tank the rest of the way. It's quite another to tank from Game 1 or even tank multiple seasons (aka Philly).

These Celtics haven't tanked and are now winning. They did go into a rebuilding mode but never started to lose games in a wholesale manner in order to get a better draft pick (note I'm talking about these Celtics and not the ML Carr days). I hope the Karma Gods greatly reward the Cs for rebuilding without tanking because that's what the NBA needs. Teams need to see that there is a different way - and perhaps a better way - than losing on purpose for multiple years.

[jambr380]

I've got not doubt Byron is a poor coach, and less doubt that he lost the team before the season began.

That said, it's the height of Laker-fan fantasy that this Lakers team is a ".500 team at least."

Just don't see the Lakers ending up with a top 3 pick, no matter how bad they are.

Nets, 76ers, Blazers, and even SAC may sink if they do badly with injuries. That being said the Lakers may sneak into a top 3 pick, considering I kind of slotted them as the top seven worst team in the league.

It looks like they are blatantly tanking though.
They are purposely losing to those teams is the suggestion by this fan.
They're at least 50/50 to finish bottom 3.
When the management and coach are in on it, it becomes a mission of the franchise and it's more important than anything else.

If the organization is in on it and the players are not, then it will come out in the media sooner rather than later. Also, if Byron is just doing nothing and the players are drawing up plays trying to win, then I imagine they should be successful at some point. Players don't care about the draft.

Either way, I am very much hoping their pick falls to at least #4...please no Simmons for the freakin' Lakers.