| Like any great comedy show, the best jokes were saved for last. The Los Angeles Lakers, who combined to orchestrate one of the most derided and catastrophically absurd campaigns that anyone can remember, are finally done. They’re done because the mathematical computations say so, following a defeat to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday that left them three games back of the Western Conference’s 10th spot with three games remaining, and a tiebreaker working against them. But they’re really done because there is nothing else left. The show is over. The comedic pot has been emptied. For months, there has been so much for any non-purple-and-gold fan to laugh at, and now there’s simply no further scope for fresh material. It was almost too much. Every day brought some fresh embarrassment for the rest of the league to chuckle over. Every other comment was quickly ushered into the category of “well, that didn’t age well,” often before it had had a chance to age at all. The final nail, confirmation that a team boasting LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook would not get a sniff of the postseason, brought out the last bits of humor, and there were doozies among them. If Los Angeles had shown a fraction of the creativity that the internet chuckle monsters employed by the time Wednesday morning rolled around, they’d be cruising into the playoffs instead of peering half-heartedly in from the window. Someone speedily pieced together a “One Shining Moment” video with a twist, splicing a catalog of the most ignominious plays of the year. Bleacher Report collected some of the more hopeful comments and predictions into a piece that highlighted all the missed steps of a team that was installed among the pre-season favorites and believed they were poised for a championship run. Thousands upon thousands of reposts were made of James’ defiant (and now deleted) tweet from August, when he informed the critics that they’d soon be made to regret their skepticism of the team’s abilities. In truth, however bad even the sternest analyzer thought things could get, the situation got infinitely worse. The Lakers have been a woeful team that didn’t play like a team at all. They couldn’t get anything right. When they started games well, they blew leads. When they started horribly, they couldn’t come back. They talked smack that came back to bite them. The Suns were delighted to wave them off on Tuesday, especially after Davis’ recent comments insisting the Lakers would have won last season’s playoff series between the teams had he not been injured. The Minnesota Timberwolves — Karl-Anthony Towns and Patrick Beverley in particular — enjoyed settling old scores last month. Beverley’s nose-holding declaration of “trash” has turned into a zillion memes. James was agitated all season, and couldn’t provide the leadership to bring together a winning unit. His tweeted apology to “Laker Nation,” on Jan. 16, promising improvement, was followed by a stretch of 10-26. Some of his antics were not well received, like grabbing his crotch after hitting a big shot against the Indiana Pacers. An April Fools’ Day joke couldn’t even land effectively. James joked that he was out for the year. Well, despite playing that same night, he’s sat for the two games since. In true tragicomedy fashion the team they allowed to hunt them down in the standings – the New Orleans Pelicans – may now benefit even further. After the Lakers dropped behind the San Antonio Spurs into 11th, they might now have to hand over their 2022 first-round pick to the Pelicans, due to the convoluted nature of the trade that landed Davis. Much of the L.A. media, understandably loath to overly criticize the hometown team and its biggest stars, have had to come up with increasingly imaginative ways to somehow paint an ongoing farce into anything resembling a positive. Usually, it came with details of James’ scoring feats, during a season in which he set a bunch of records that did little to get wins on the board. “This is the worst season in Lakers history,” FOX’s Chris Broussard said on “First Things First.” “This is an incredibly successful franchise. LeBron (needs to) remain humble. Let your game do your talking. Because whenever LeBron gets bombastic, it doesn’t work.” There will almost certainly be change. The Lakers’ front office will try to find someone prepared to take on Westbrook’s contract but might have to give up a lot without having a lot to give. Head coach Frank Vogel is on the toastiest of hot seats and looks like a man who knows he’s about to get fired. “Extremely disappointed,” Vogel said after Tuesday’s loss. “We all want to play our part in bringing success to Laker basketball, and we fell short.” Here is a promise: today marks the last time this column will write about the Los Angeles Lakers this season. Season’s over, joke’s over. The show’s over because it’s game over. Nothing more to see here. Nothing more to laugh at. |
