- 300
- 269
Those aren’t excuses.Not really
They got injured the year after they won the title
The year after that they traded for Russell Westbrook
Last year they still had Westbrook for half the year
Those are more than good enough excuses
Anthony Davis went down in the first round in 2021, the Lakers were ahead in the series, and Phoenix was missing their best player at the time, Chris Paul. That’s an equal playing field. LeBron choked.
Also it was LeBron who signed off on the move for Westbrick, and he’s a former MVP and perennial All-Star, but that also is not an excuse. Great basketball would’ve found a way to make him fit and work … only losers make excuses.
They should’ve recognized that A.R. 15 had crazy basketball IQ and skill, but obviously he had to face things out of his control here in the American basketball system to get more playing time and touches.
You know if he grew up overseas he wouldn’t have to deal with that, and he would come in with more hype like a Luka etc
So also, not an excuse, they should’ve got rid of Russell way sooner than that. They should’ve gotten LeBron to focus more on playing defense and not just playing for raw statistical numbers.