Finger-Pointing Within Lakers End Up Placing Blame Mainly On LeBron James

The Los Angeles Lakers’ tumultuous season has mercifully come to an end after losing to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, April 5, and the blame game has officially begun.

Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report claimed that management is pointing fingers towards three key factors, along with general manager Rob Pelinka being on a short leash.

“The buzz around the league suggests general manager Rob Pelinka has another year to get the Lakers back on track. The blame internally appears to be focused on injuries, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James for pressuring the team to trade for Westbrook," Pincus wrote.

It seems both fair and unfair at the same time for the Lakers to be blaming their superstar forward for their woes as the front office also has had missteps of its own.

Many would agree that the Lakers’ disappointing season was almost going to be a sure thing when they traded for Russell Westbrook, but the fact remains that it was still ultimately upper management’s multitude of decisions that kickstarted it all off.

Diehard fans of one of the most winningest franchises in NBA history certainly have not forgotten the decision to keep Talen Horton-Tucker over Alex Caruso, a story that the latter shed some clarity on back in November 2021.

Had the Lakers’ front office exerted a bit more effort in convincing James about acquiring Kyle Lowry over Russell Westbrook, there is a big chance that none of this could have happened.

Add in the fact that they also botched the Los Angeles homecoming of DeMar DeRozan, the Lakers’ front office should arguably shoulder just as much of the blame.

A head coaching change is also heavily rumored to happen this offseason as the ones in charge believe that Frank Vogel is not doing enough on his part to help the team succeed.

Based on all of the reports regarding the Lakers’ fall from grace, the lack of news regarding team owner Jeanie Buss’ involvement in the team is definitely concerning.

It can be argued that while James and Pelinka have had their shortcomings as a whole, Buss also needs to take up some of the responsibility for their disappointing two-year run after winning their 17th NBA title.

The Lakers have a ton of issues to address and it may take more than a season before they can reach contender status once again.