Lakers News: LeBron James Injury Update, Russell Westbrook's Ejection and More
The start of the 2021-22 NBA season has been unexpectedly turbulent for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Or, if you were less than bullish about their many changes to this roster, maybe the obstacles aren't so surprising.
Either way, the Lakers have lost more games than they've won, have already started piling up the injuries and haven't found a fix to a defense clearly reeling from the departures of players like Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
All is not well in Laker Land, but it's still a newsworthy place, so let's break down the latest rumblings around the Purple and Gold.
Lakers Hope to Have LeBron Back for Friday Night
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LeBron James suffered a right ankle injury Sunday and hasn't been since. The Lakers have struggled to hide his absence.
First, they had to scratch and claw to squeak out an overtime win against the rebuilding San Antonio Spurs. Then, they coughed up a 26-point lead against the previously winless (and seemingly tanking) Oklahoma City Thunder.
Now, L.A. is set to welcome a Cleveland Cavaliers club that has sprinted out of the gate and won three consecutive games over 2021 playoff participants. James is officially questionable for the contest, but ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported "there's some optimism" James will be able to go, via Lakers Daily.
The Lakers should proceed with caution here. A win on Friday might boost morale, but L.A. needs a healthy James for the long haul. If he's anything other than 100 percent, the Lakers should think long and hard about additional recovery time.
'Old-School' Russell Westbrook Explains Late Ejection Against OKC
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In the closing seconds of the Lakers' loss to the Thunder on Wednesday, L.A.'s comeback hopes were officially dashed when Darius Bazley stole Rajon Rondo's pass with just 3.1 seconds remaining. Bazley could have run out the clock, as the Thunder's five-point lead was clearly safe, but the third-year forward sprinted down court for a breakaway dunk instead.
Russell Westbrook was incensed by what he saw. He immediately walked toward Bazley and began yelling "Don't do that," before teammates separated the two. Officials hit Westbrook with a technical foul, which was his second of the night so he was tossed.
"How I play the game, I'm more old-school," Westbrook told reporters. "And when s--t like that happens, I don't let it slide. ... There's certain things you don't do in sports when the game's already over. And I didn't like it. Simple as that."
Maybe Bazley's action alone was enough to set Westbrook off, but it also might've been the result of a night's worth of frustration boiling over. While Westbrook recorded his first triple-double as a Laker in the contest, he also committed 10 turnovers, shot just 40 percent from the field and misfired on six of his eight three-point attempts.
Anthony Davis Takes Issue with Lakers' Collapse
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The Lakers returned just three players from last season's roster: James, Anthony Davis and Talen Horton-Tucker. Davis was the only one of the trio to play in Wednesday's loss to the Thunder.
That's a lot of moving parts for one team to assemble on the fly, but Davis wasn't willing to excuse his club from such a crushing collapse.
"This ain't no adjustment period at all," Davis told reporters. "Not this game. That's just straight on us. ... This isn't an adjustment game where I feel like it's, 'Oh, we're still learning each other.' ... Nah. Not this game."
Davis is right. Even with the injuries, the Lakers took a much more talented roster into that tilt, and the talent gap was obvious when they ran up a 41-19 advantage in the opening frame. But the club seemed to check out after, and it couldn't get back out of cruise control while losing each of the last three quarters.
If there's the slightest positive spin to add here, it's that L.A. hopefully got its worst loss of the season out of the way early. The Lakers would be hard-pressed to suffer an uglier defeat.
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