Lakers Role Players Criticized by NBA Execs; LeBron, Anthony Davis 'Need Consistency'

The story of the 2024-25 Los Angeles Lakers so far is a familiar one, with Anthony Davis and LeBron James holding up their end of the bargain for a roster that hasn't been good enough to support them.

One Eastern Conference executive told ESPN's Dave McMenamin that the Lakers are only going to succeed if Davis and James get "consistency" from their supporting cast:

"AD and LeBron need consistency from the rest of the group. The only guy that they rely on is Austin (Reaves). He finally got to the point of not deferring to those guys. The rest of the group should follow suit. Too many guys don't know how to play with them because they feel like they need to just give AD and LeBron the ball and wait for a pass. They end up forcing shots late-clock because that is when they get the ball."

This has been a common refrain from the Lakers ever since they won the 2019-20 NBA championship. The 2020-21 season was dominated by injuries, with James and Davis playing a combined total of 81 games in the regular season before they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Phoenix Suns.

The summer of 2021 was a key moment in recent Lakers history because James pushed for the front office to acquire Russell Westbrook to give them a player capable of handling the ball, easing some of the burden on him.

Acquiring Westbrook from the Washington Wizards cost the Lakers key role players Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma from the roster that helped them win a title.

Ever since that deal, the Lakers have been desperately trying to find high-level role players who can fit with and play at a consistent level with James and Davis. They seemed to find a decent mix two years ago when Reaves had a breakout moment; and Rui Hachimura and D'Angelo Russell played well for a couple of months to help them reach the Western Conference Finals as the No. 7 seed.

That group hasn't been able to continue playing at that level since that playoff run, which is why the Lakers have remained in the play-in mix ever since.

Even this season, James and Davis have had some wild swings in their performance. Davis looked like a potential MVP when he averaged 31.3 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in his first 14 starts.

In nine games since Nov. 23, though, Davis is averaging 21.6 points on 45.7 percent shooting. James recently had a stretch with 20 consecutive missed threes over five games after making 41.2 percent of his attempts behind the arc in his first 17 starts.

After starting the season 10-4, the Lakers have lost seven of their last 10 games. They are once again sitting in the middle of the play-in tournament mix as the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference entering Friday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.