Christmas was miserable in Los Angeles. The Lakers dropped their third-straight game tonight against the Houston Rockets. The slate of results left JJ Redick perplexed, calling for an “uncomfortable” meeting to follow with the players. But if the team crumbling apart wasn’t enough, Redick might have lost his most valuable supporter in the locker room, according to Kendrick Perkins.

Having battled with LeBron James since his high school days, Perk feels he knows when something is wrong with James. He follows the Akron Hammer’s body language as cues. And with the demeanour he saw against the Rockets, Perkins feels it’s time for the Lakers to move past LeBron James and start fresh.

“When he’s not engaged or he feels a type of way it speaks in his body language. Last night, his body language was awful,” Perk said on First Take. “He was not engaged, he was pouting, he was moping… I just think LeBron and the Lakers relationship has run its course. they need to figure out a solution and the solution is him not being in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform”.

Since the offseason, James’ future in LA appears uncertain. With Luka Doncic, the Lakers have a superstar for the future. Furthermore, Austin Reaves has developed beautifully. With James also in the fold, Redick does have plenty of dynamic talent. However, their personalities on the floor also clash, which might create difficulties.

Is trading LeBron James the answer? The Lakers could recoup some impactful players in exchange for James. However, they also lost a veteran who knows how to will his teammates together when the time comes. It’s anyways his last contractual season, so the Lakers might not actively hunt for a trade.

That assumption becomes stronger considering James can’t alone be blamed for the Lakers’ three-game skid.

LeBron James is the least of the Lakers’ worries

The Lakers’ recent three-game losing streak does speak to the team’s roster composition. JJ Redick doesn’t have consistent options to help the team recover from deficits. Moreover, they don’t seem as connected as they did at the beginning of the season. LeBron James isn’t the reason behind it. Before their last three games, the Lakers were 8-2 with James in the lineup.

It’s the system that’s falling apart. Particularly, turnovers have sharply increased, compromising their strong ball movement. Over the past three games, the Lakers rank last in assists, that’s on a team with both Luka Doncic and LeBron James! Likewise, seeing the team unable to replicate their poise can be frustrating.

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Even Doncic appears to be disgruntled when things aren’t going their way. That’s the emotion that comes when the team is performing poorly. What the Lakers need before a trade or anything else is getting together on the same page. They’ve lost that camaraderie during these three games, which clearly shows in the results.

Without unity and transparency in the locker room, the dark clouds over them won’t pass. Even if it is LeBron James that Redick is upset with, there needs to be an open conversation that brings the team together. The head coach has reached the end of his patience, and surely the players have to. Both sides need to do a better job and get back to playing great basketball that the Lakers have shown they are capable of.