Suns' Cameron Payne Calls Lakers the 'Worst Team in the West' in Twitter Space

The Los Angeles Lakers' season might not be in the grave just yet, but that hasn't stopped their rivals from starting to dance.

Phoenix Suns guard Cameron Payne was the latest to clown the struggling Lakers, calling them the "worst team in the West."

"We the No. 1 team in the world and you worried about the f--kin' Lakers. They the worst team in the West," Payne said.

While the Lakers aren't actually the worst team in the West—hello, Houston...or Oklahoma City, depending on the day—they are nowhere near competing for a championship. The Lakers lost for the sixth time in eight games Wednesday night against a depleted Portland Trail Blazers team that spent the better part of a week jettisoning nearly every valuable rotation player.

Legends James Worthy and Magic Johnson ripped the team following the loss, which ranked high among the most listless performances of the season. The Lakers turned the ball over 21 times and allowed Portland to haul in 11 offensive rebounds—a sign of dispassionate, lackadaisical basketball.

The Suns, meanwhile, have established themselves as the top team in the West and carry a 3.5-game lead over the second-place Golden State Warriors. They've spent the entire 2021-22 campaign proving last season's Finals run was no fluke and are arguably the championship favorite at the moment.