LeBron James & Lakers Admit They Aren't Good Enough As Is

“Do I think we can reach the level where Milwaukee is right now?” LeBron James repeated the question from a reporter after an embarrassing loss to the Milwaukee Bucks last night. “Um, no. Is that what you wanted to hear? No.”

LeBron answers a question asking if he thinks the Lakers can get to the Milwaukee Bucks’ level: pic.twitter.com/B6djsSdoEN

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 9, 2022

"We ain't on their level..." 

Bill Oram of The Athletic writes that "sources told The Athletic that inside the locker room, players see and feel the same problems as everyone else, perhaps never more clearly than after a non-competitive loss to the champs. They understand as well as anyone that the personnel on this joyless 26-29 team simply isn’t working."

And according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, the front office is feeling the "urgency" from the players to do something before the trade deadline tomorrow at 3pm ET. 

Once again, Russell Westbrook was booed mercilessly by the LA fans, as he had another disastrous game and was benched for the entire 4th quarter. 

It was at the behest of LeBron that the Lakers traded away a slew of strong rotation players to bring in Westbrook, feeling that a "Big 3" of himself, Anthony Davis and Russ would be enough to return the team to the promised land. 

But, as noted by Oram, "everything the Lakers did last summer, the overhaul of a contending roster, the addition of Westbrook, the strategy of a big three… It has all failed."

The enduring vision of yet another blowout loss Tuesday night might be the sight of Westbrook trying to "cheer up" LeBron and AD on the Lakers bench... as they watched their season plummet to new depths.