Lakers Become NBA's Lone Winless Team After Kings' Win over Heat

The LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers are officially the NBA's only winless team following the Sacramento Kings' 119-113 win over the Miami Heat on Saturday.

L.A. is 0-5 on the season following a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, while Sacramento is now 1-4.

It marks the second time in Lakers' history that they have been the NBA's last remaining winless team, per ESPN Stats & Info. The last time this occurred was 1957-58 when there were just eight teams in the league.

In addition to Friday's loss against Minnesota, the Purple and Gold have also lost to the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets.

The Lakers have one of the most poorly constructed rosters in the NBA, and the team's demise began with the blockbuster trade for Russell Westbrook ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.

L.A. parted ways with Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the Westbrook deal. In addition, the franchise failed to re-sign Alex Caruso ahead of the 2021-22 campaign, and he went on to sign with the Chicago Bulls.

Since then, the Lakers have had to fill out their roster with players on lower-scale deals, including Dennis Schröder, Patrick Beverley, Lonnie Walker IV, Damian Jones and Thomas Bryant.

The addition of Westbrook was supposed to help the Lakers contend for another title. However, he has not lived up to expectations in L.A, and his $47 million contract has made it so that the Purple and Gold can't trade him for assets that could help the team without attaching future first-round draft picks.

Westbrook has started three of four games for the Lakers this season, but he will likely continue to play off the bench for Darvin Ham's squad after doing so against Minnesota on Friday.

The 33-year-old has struggled mightily this season, averaging 12.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting 30.9 percent from the floor and just 12.5 percent from deep.

While Westbrook has shouldered much of the blame for L.A.'s struggles this season, its 0-5 start extends far beyond the control of a single player.