How bad do the Lakers have to be to not be on national TV every night?

[Roy H.]

I just saw this, and it was definitely surprising.  I figured the Lakers would have a much wider influence, although it's pretty crazy that they're #1 in New York.

That's just based upon who is wearing Lids hats, but still:  the Bulls are that much cooler than the Lakers?

[slamtheking]

sad that states with teams are being outsold by the Bulls.   must be a lot of the Jordan generation still reminiscing.  Texas, NY, FL, NC TN, OH, OKC, IN, LA, MD, RI and CT should be ashamed of themselves for not supporting the local teams. 

[celticsclay]

Austin Reaves  SG
Lonnie Walker IV  SF
Patrick Beverley  PG
LeBron James  PF
Anthony Davis  C

Lakers projected staring line up tonight against GSW.  Blowout in the making?

Highly unlikely.  for as bad as the Lakers were last year, the Warriors still had a very difficult time guarding both James and Davis.

About that...

Westbrook ended up starting, right?  And they still got blown out.  There is no reason to give up on the Lakers.  Any teams will need some time to figure things out.  But I doubt there will be much patience with the players, the organization, or the fans.

I agree it is only one game, but after an off-season of preaching defense and accountability from new coach Ham, Lebron James was allowed to continue his world be free routine from last year making an absolute mockery on the defensive end. He is still a very great offensive player and scores efficiently but he uses all his energy on the offense end giving up as much as he gets. Unless ham says enough is enough with that the results are going to be like what we saw last night.

[Celtics2021]

I love that Oklahoma supports the Bulls more than the Thunder, while Washington still reps a franchise that’s been gone for 15 years.

The NBA needs to go back to Seattle yesterday.

[bdm860]

That's just based upon who is wearing Lids hats, but still:  the Bulls are that much cooler than the Lakers?

Going to their website, it looks like they sell all kinds of merchandise (jerseys, shirts, hoodies, etc.), and apparently they have another store called Locker Room by Lids which sells typical sports apparel, so this might be more than just hats.

Probably an offseason issue.  No major stars changed teams (a lot of casual fans probably couldn't pick Brunson, Murray, Gobert, Mitchell out of a lineup), along with Golden State winning again (nobody left to jump on the band wagon at this point), and then they probably just stock minimal NBA product in the offseason, so there was probably a lack of sales overall.
 
Maybe that was combined with them stocking Jordan merchandise again or they had a big Jordan sale or something (I have no idea, just guessing).

[Moranis]

I still have no idea why they haven't traded Westbrook to Indiana yet (along with Ryan or Christie).  Just give up the picks already and actually try to win with Lebron.  Hield and Turner would be awesome in LA

PG - Beverley, Schroder, Nunn, Pippen (TW)
SG - Hield, Walker, Reaves, Christie
SF - James, Toscano-Anderson, Brown, Swider (TW)
PF - Davis, Gabriel
C- Turner, Bryant, Jones

That is a much better team than what they are strolling out right now.

[Roy H.]

Kirk Goldsberry: Anthony Davis is the least efficient jump shooter in the NBA over the last 2+ seasons. Among 178 players that have attempted at least 500 jump shots since the beginning of the 2020-21 season, Davis has logged the lowest eFG% on those shots at 35.99 – no other player is below 40

Kirk Goldsberry: The Lakers have 2 of the least efficient jump shooters in the NBA in their starting 5 Lowest eFG% on Jump Shots last 2+ seasons* 1. A. Davis … 35.99 2. J. Butler … 40.31 3. A. Pokusevski …40.35 4. G. Antetokounmpo … 41.13 5. R. Westbrook … 41.68 *min. 500 attempts

[celticsclay]

Kirk Goldsberry: Anthony Davis is the least efficient jump shooter in the NBA over the last 2+ seasons. Among 178 players that have attempted at least 500 jump shots since the beginning of the 2020-21 season, Davis has logged the lowest eFG% on those shots at 35.99 – no other player is below 40

Kirk Goldsberry: The Lakers have 2 of the least efficient jump shooters in the NBA in their starting 5 Lowest eFG% on Jump Shots last 2+ seasons* 1. A. Davis … 35.99 2. J. Butler … 40.31 3. A. Pokusevski …40.35 4. G. Antetokounmpo … 41.13 5. R. Westbrook … 41.68 *min. 500 attempts

Yeah Davis has not been great in a while, still a good player. After the Celtics turnaround last season I’m not gonna rule anything else. But if Davis keeps shooting like this and Lebron keeps being a matador on defense they are not winning anything even swapping in some role players like hield or turner for Westbrook. That’s the definition of rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic. Also Westbrook wasn’t the problem last night.

[slamtheking]

I still have no idea why they haven't traded Westbrook to Indiana yet (along with Ryan or Christie).  Just give up the picks already and actually try to win with Lebron.  Hield and Turner would be awesome in LA

PG - Beverley, Schroder, Nunn, Pippen (TW)
SG - Hield, Walker, Reaves, Christie
SF - James, Toscano-Anderson, Brown, Swider (TW)
PF - Davis, Gabriel
C- Turner, Bryant, Jones

That is a much better team than what they are strolling out right now.

Indy should be holding out for more than those picks to take on Westbrook and give up 2 players who are actually good/usable for LA.  better yet, Indy should just tell LA to go pound sand and enjoy their meltdown this season

[CFAN38]

I still have no idea why they haven't traded Westbrook to Indiana yet (along with Ryan or Christie).  Just give up the picks already and actually try to win with Lebron.  Hield and Turner would be awesome in LA

PG - Beverley, Schroder, Nunn, Pippen (TW)
SG - Hield, Walker, Reaves, Christie
SF - James, Toscano-Anderson, Brown, Swider (TW)
PF - Davis, Gabriel
C- Turner, Bryant, Jones

That is a much better team than what they are strolling out right now.

I agree this roster makes more sense but I can see why pulling the trigger on the deal for the Lakers is scary. It is effectively the last big move they can make in the Lebron era. After that they will not have any tradable assets and will lose Russ their scapegoat.

I have grown to love the trade for the Pacers. I think Russ will have a mini resurgence on the Pacers and could have a positive influence on Haliburton's development like he did for Victor Oladipo. Allowing Russ to fill the stat sheet and draw fans while playing with a young Pacers for 3/4 of a season then negotiating a late season buyout makes sense to me.   

[86MaxwellSmart]

Maybe The Lakers are playing for the Number One Pick...They should absolutely tank-cause this old team is getting them nowhere...but then again, they tied up all that dough in Kobe when he was washed.

[Celtics4ever]

Really bad to not be on TV.   LeBron and Harden are very boring for me to watch.

[footey]

Maybe The Lakers are playing for the Number One Pick...They should absolutely tank-cause this old team is getting them nowhere...but then again, they tied up all that dough in Kobe when he was washed.

Their pick goes to New Orleans.

[Vermont Green]

Maybe The Lakers are playing for the Number One Pick...They should absolutely tank-cause this old team is getting them nowhere...but then again, they tied up all that dough in Kobe when he was washed.

The Pelicans certainly hope they tank.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Maybe The Lakers are playing for the Number One Pick...They should absolutely tank-cause this old team is getting them nowhere...but then again, they tied up all that dough in Kobe when he was washed.

Their pick goes to New Orleans.

Awesome...ha, I forgot about this. They're in worse shape than I thought.