The Lakers are being blamed for being bad without their leader.
Coach Luke Walton lit a fire under two underperforming Lakers on Sunday after his gutted team dropped its fifth in six games without LeBron James. Walton called out and questioned the passion of former lottery picks Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, who both had horrible performances against the Timberwolves.
“They’re trying, but they’re young,” Walton said about Ball and Ingram, via ESPN. “At some point, we need more passion. We need more fight. And that’s not scoring more. That’s more diving for loose balls, communicating loudly, grabbing [rebounds].
“Brandon had some really nice crack-back rebounds tonight that we can get out and run [from]. We need that all the time from him. So, it’s not just them, but until we get healthy again, you got to play in this league with some passion and fire. It’s hard to win in this league when you are healthy. So you need to double that effort when guys are down.”
Ball and Ingram, just 21, were both awful in Sunday’s 108-86 blowout loss. Ball didn’t score a single point, his second scoreless game this season, while Ingram mustered 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
Ball said the Lakers weren’t physical enough to put up a challenge against the Timberwolves, who fired coach Tom Thibodeau shortly after the game.
The losing funk also has turned up the heat on Walton, who was chastised by team president Magic Johnson earlier this season.
“Relax,” Kobe Bryant said on Twitter. “Entire squad is damn near out. [We were] playing pretty well before that.”
The Lakers will be without James for a few more games after he suffered a groin injury on Christmas. He’s averaging 27.3 points in his first season with the Lakers.
Los Angles also has been without other key players over the last few weeks. Guard Rajon Rondo remains out after finger surgery and Kyle Kuzma has been hurt with a back contusion.
Source: Read Full Article