Former Bulls Star Makes Absurd Claims on Reducing LeBron James’ Minutes to Help Give Lakers a Fighting Chance

The Lakers are struggling. They have lost 15 of their last 20 games, and 8 of their last 10. They had been stuck at 9th in the Western Conference. But now they are hanging by a thread. LeBron James and the Lakers look to qualify for the playoffs through the playin tournament. They have been slipping off their form and they are on the worst run of games. They seem to see the slight opportunity of getting momentum when LeBron drops an unbeatable masterclass but from the very next match they seem to be back to square one. This has been the story for Frank Vogel’s side all season.

LeBron James has been playing consistently, and to be fair to him he has been trying his best to fashion some wins for the Lakers. James, at 37 is averaging almost 30 points per game, but his work rate on the court is not what it used to be. He is often accused of slowing the game down or not putting much effort in falling back to help out the team. Even if there is some truth to these accusations, the problem runs deeper within the Lakers team and is not limited to James.

WATCH THIS STORY: Top five 50 point games of LeBron’s career.

Jay Williams suggests LeBron James and Lakers to take long term perspective

The 2 games the Lakers have won in the last 10, have both been 50 point games from James. 56 against the Warriors, and 50 against the Wizards. It seems as if the Lakers can only win when James puts up a performance that good. Jay Williams talked about the same on ESPN, and offered a new perspective for the Lakers to look at their concerning situation.

“When LeBron James scores 50 points they win games. Oh I’m sorry now we are asking our 37 year old superstar to score 50 points on a sore knee to have my team fight for a nine or 10 seed?” Jay said about how badly the Lakers need James to be in his absolutely best form. “I don’t understand why LeBron James is playing 40 minutes a night. This team has showed no fight, no determination. LeBron is frustrated.”

Read more: LeBron James is a frustrated figure on the court.

“If you minimize LeBron James’ minutes, you think about AD more long term, let Russell, let some of your younger players play. Don’t fight for it. I understand that’s not going to happen, but Greeny, this is also a problem for me.” JWill suggested that Lakers should look at it from a long time perspective instead of keep playing James for 40 minutes each game just to chase 9th or 10th seed.

Lakers are without an answer

Jay addressed the fact that Lakers are hoping to get Anthony Davis back to full fitness. But it seems unlikely that he would hit the ground running from the get go after such a long injury. Russ West is far from his best. The Lakers have gone about 20 points down at the end of the first quarter in two consecutive games now. No matter how many points LeBron scores, defensively they are out of shape. James and the team often look clueless on the court.

Greeny said in conversation with JWill, “I get that they’re not particularly good, but there’s bad and then there’s that. That sounds like a team that’s not even really fighting anymore.”

Jay thinks that the Lakers have already “checked out”. The lack of winning mentality as a team is what frustrates LeBron the most. The Pelicans are one game behind the Lakers. Next seven out of eight games are on the road for the Lakers. They need James to drop multiple monster performances. Moreover, the Lakers hope to find some consistency, and momentum to make a surge towards the playing tournament, and somehow the playoffs.