There is probably no team more happy to see the end of the month of December than the Los Angeles Lakers. The team lost 14 of 16 games in the final month of 2016 and veteran Nick Young is worried this team could be headed down a bad path.
For as bad as the Lakers played in December, there is still plenty of time for them to turn things around, but not if things don’t change soon. If there’s anyone who knows that, it’s Young, who was part of the 2014 team that started of 10-9 before ultimately finishing 27-55.
These Lakers started out 10-10 before this recent slide and Young believes that if they don’t figure something out soon, they’re gonna become the ‘doormat Lakers’ again via Tania Ganguli of the LA Times:
"We have to figure it out or we’re gonna be the doormat Lakers again." — Nick Young after the Lakers 101-89 loss to the Mavericks:
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) December 30, 2016
The difference between that 2014 squad and this year’s team is obviously the young talent that this Lakers team possesses. Players like D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, and Julius Randle have a ridiculous amount of potential, but with that has come plenty of inconsistency so far this year.
The Lakers have won only 65 games total in the three previous years including a franchise record-low 17 games last year. Often times the Lakers were basically out of the game before the first half was over. Falling back to that level would be a far cry from the team that showed up at the beginning of the year and would really call into question the future of this team.
Head coach Luke Walton spoke about how badly these young players want to develop immediately and it is their growth that will turn things around. If the effort and fight doesn’t improve, Young’s fears could be realized.