Their best player called them “soft” like a brand of toilet paper 20 games into the season. They were bad. Like Dwight Buycks bad. If you have no idea who that is, you’re probably one of the many fans who looked away from the Laker train wreck towards the end of the season.
Buycks signed a 10-day contract with the Lakers in April, then played a career game (15pts, 5rebs, 3assts) filling in for Jeremy Lin. He then injured his hand two days after and missed the remaining two games of the season. Of course.
Such was the luck of these God-forsaken Lakers, a team that finished with a 21-61 record, ahead of the Sixers (18-64); Knicks (17-65); and Wolves (16-66).
They lost Steve Nash in the offseason, Julius Randle on opening night, and Kobe Bryant in January. Lin, Wesley Johnson, Jordan Clarkson, Nick Young, Ryan Kelly, and Ronnie Price also missed a substantial amount of games.
The win-loss record of the 2015-2016 Lakers was worse, but at least they showed us a glimpse of the Baby Lakers and a highly-entertaining Kobe Farewell Tour. The 2014-2015 Lakers, on the other hand, had this:
Lin had it the worst. As the point guard, he was tasked to run the offense for a starting roster that at one point had Kobe, Carlos Boozer, Jordan Hill, and Wesley Johnson. He finished the season with averages of 11 points, 4.6 assists, 1 steal, a bruised ego, and two bleeding ears courtesy of Kobe.
Exhibit A:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsCK6m1uhqE
Exhibit B:
Poor guy. Kobe must’ve convinced him that “Linsanity” only exists in the Matrix. The good news is that the Lin-Boozer pick-and-roll era is over, and things are looking bright under the new-Luke Lakers.
When you’re having a bad day, just remember that Kobe once sat on Jimmy Kimmel’s couch, and watched his teammates celebrate their 14th win in 55 games.
THE ROSTER: Kobe Bryant, Jeremy Lin, Carlos Boozer, Nick Young, Jordan Hill, Wesley Johnson, Ryan Kelly, Ronnie Price, Julius Randle, Robert Sacre, Jordan Clarkson, Ed Davis, Wayne Ellington, Xavier Henry, Tarik Black, Vander Blue, Jabari Brown, Dwight Buycks
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