Russell Westbrook, Rob Pelinka, and Frank Vogel taking a group picture. ( Photo Courtesy: Kyusung Gong, The Arkansas Democrat Gazeette.)
Over a month ago, with three games left to the regular season, the 17-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from playoff contention after losing to the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers started the season with high expectations to win this year's NBA Finals. However, things did not go as planned. The entire season was full of player injuries, losses, locker room issues, trade talks, and Lakers fans upset with the team and management,
Last July, the Lakers, who were the defending NBA champions, finished as the 7th seed in the Western Conference. In order to make the playoffs, they played in the NBA’s first play in tournament game against the Golden State Warriors. After winning against the Warriors, they played the first round of the playoffs against the Phoenix Suns. After being eliminated in the first round, it was clear changes needed to be made to the Lakers roster.
On July 29, 2021, the day of the NBA Draft, Rob Pelinka, the Vice President of Operations and General Manager of the Lakers went to work. He traded their 2022 first round pick and future 2nd round picks along with Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Montrezl Harell to the Washington Wizards for Russell Westbrook. The trade sent shocked throughout the NBA. During free agency, the Lakers made more moves by signing Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard Malik Monk, Deandre Jordan, Avery Bradley, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza, and rookie Austin Reaves who was undrafted. Some basketball experts said at the time that this was the greatest super team to be created. It seemed as if LeBron James and Anthony Davis finally had the help they needed.
Not everyone thought the Lakers roster was a good one. Before the season got underway, some NBA players and NBA reporters were calling the Lakers roster old. There was no question the team was made up of mostly veteran players, but these were players who had playoff experience, championships, were multiple all-star selections, and leaders on and off the court. Not to mention four of the players on the roster (LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook) were on the NBA’s top 75 greatest players of all-time list. Lebron James called out to people who were doubters saying, “Keep talking about my squad and our personal ages.”
The 2021 –22 regular season did not go as expected. During the first half of the season, the Lakers lost games to teams in the Western Conference and Eastern Conference who had terrible records. The Lakers were being criticized for their team style and how horrible they were playing. Many pointed the blame for the Lakers poor playing on Russell Westbrook who was having a career worst for points per game, turnovers, and team plays. Lakers legend Magic Johnson called out Russell Westbrook saying, “Take ownership and accountability.” Rumors swirled that the Lakers head coach Frank Vogel was not pleased with Westbrook. In games when the score was close, Vogel would take Westbrook out of the game. Westbrook did not appreciate this and began criticizing Vogel and the Lakers staff and pointing out he did not make the team choices.
As the deadline for the NBA trade approached, the Westbrook saga continued, and as reports of him being a distraction to the team, many believed the Lakers management would trade Russell Westbrook. Rob Pelinka was fully aware of the Lakers issues. However, on the day of the NBA Trade deadline, instead of trading Westbrook or making any trades that could help the Lakers, Pelinka did nothing. Lakers fans were furious, and many lost their confidence in Pelinka. Hours after the deadline, reports came that the Houston Rockets offered the Lakers point guard John Wall, forward Christian Wood, and a 2022 first round pick for Russell Westbrook. No one seems to understand why Rob Pelinka passed on the Rockets trade.
Clutch Sports Group Founder and CEO Rich Paul sitting with Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka. ( Photo Courtesy: Sam Amick, The Athletic.)
In some of his social media posts, Lebron James seemed to make it clear he was not happy about Rob Pelinka not making trades to improve the Lakers and made comments about a possible return to Cleveland. Shortly after, Lebron’s agent Rich Paul of Clutch Sports met with Rob Pelinka and Lakers owner Jeanie Buss. Paul made it clear Lebron would remain a Laker and the goal was to finish the season strong and regroup in the offseason.
The hope of a strong season ending did not happen as there was no change to the Lakers play after the all-star break. The team lost game after game which lead them to miss the playoffs for the second time in four years after being in 11th place and having a 33-49 record. One day after the Lakers played their last game of the season against the Denver Nuggets, their head coach Frank Vogel was fired. Vogel had been with the Lakers for three seasons, including their last championship.
The 2021-2022 Lakers will go down as one of the worst NBA teams created. All the experience on the team could not make the Lakers magic happen. There are so many decisions to be made during the off-season. Will owner Jeanie Buss continue to trust Rob Pelinka’s decision making, or will he be let go? Who will be the next coach of the Lakers? Will this coach be able to get the Lakers back on top? Can the Lakers be competitive next season? Will the Lakers take advantage of the 2022 free agency and make moves? Russell Westbrook has a player option on the table for $47 million. The Lakers will have to either trade him or do a buyout for him. What about the other Lakers players? What will they do to help improve their game playing? Is there hope for next season?
I think the Lakers need to say goodbye to both Pelinka and Westbrook. They were both the main factors for the failure of the Lakers season. But for now, I along with other Laker fans will have to wait to see who this year’s NBA champions will be and find out what decisions the Lakers will make during the off-season.
Have an opposing viewpoint to this opinion? Let us know. All views are welcomed. Send your thoughts to our Editorial Staff – Editor Katherine Montgomery kmontgomery2@student.dean.edu or Dean Daily Faculty Advisor, Professor John Rooke jrooke@dean.edu
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