Tim Bontemps slams the Lakers for mishandling the LeBron-AD era, calling the team “irrelevant” despite their superstar talent.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps didn’t hold back when he criticized the Los Angeles Lakers for mishandling the LeBron James-Anthony Davis era during a recent episode of ‘The Hoop Collective’ podcast. Bontemps expressed his frustration with the team’s management, arguing that they have squandered the opportunity to maximize the talents of two of the NBA’s most formidable players.
“The single biggest takeaway from this whole tournament is that it showed me how terribly the Lakers have been run for most of the past several years where you have LeBron James, and yes, he’s approaching 40, he’s the oldest player in the league, he’s obviously can’t play at this level for 82 games.”
“But we saw a couple years ago when he got to the Conference Finals, say what you will about injuries and favorable matchups, or whatever, when he is in moments like this, he still has the ability to turn it up to a really high level.”
“The fact that the team has been built so poorly around him and Anthony Davis, that they have been an afterthought the vast majority of the run and especially the last few years outside of, again, they had some favorable matchups that got them to the Conference Finals one time; otherwise they’ve been a non-factor.”
“You could go back to not getting Mike Conley instead of D’Angelo Russell in that deal; yeah, there are a hundred things you can point to.”
“The overall point, though, is that LeBron still has the ability to be a difference-making player at the highest level, and with him and AD, it remains unfathomable that this team remains irrelevant, and that’s what they are irrelevant.” (12:05)
He pointed out that despite LeBron James nearing 40 and being the oldest player in the league, he still has the capability to perform at an elite level when it matters most. However, Bontemps was critical of the Lakers’ roster construction and the poor decisions that have plagued the team during the LeBron-AD era.
Bontemps acknowledged the one successful playoff run that led to the Conference Finals but dismissed it as a result of “favorable matchups” rather than a well-constructed roster.
One of the key missteps, according to Bontemps, was the decision not to acquire Mike Conley instead of D’Angelo Russell in a critical trade. He underscored the series of missed opportunities an
