National Basketball Association

Injuries, short offseason proved too much for defending champion Lakers

Updated Jun. 4, 2021 5:36 p.m. ET

Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer

LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis limped as he backpedaled. He grabbed at his groin. He winced. He couldn't take it anymore.

Davis tried to save the Los Angeles Lakers' season, but the pain was too debilitating. He lasted 5 minutes, 25 seconds before doubling over on the sideline in pain after he attempted to defend a jumper from Devin Booker.

The superstar limped over to his team's bench, sat down and buried his head in his hands.

It was over for him.

And his team.

"I just wanted to be out there for the team in the situation, win or go home," Davis said. "My body didn't agree."

Last year, the Lakers won a championship in the most trying of circumstances, following a nearly 100-day stay in a bubble amid a pandemic and social unrest.

This season, they collapsed in the first round of the playoffs, losing in a six-game series to a Phoenix Suns team that wasn't considered a postseason contender seven months ago. They fell 113-100 at Staples Center on Thursday, but it was worse than that.

How bad was it?

As the Lakers trailed by 29 points before halftime, the words "LeBron" and "Cancun" were trending together on Twitter.

At times, the crowd at Staples Center was so silent that you could hear shoes squeaking on the court, a remarkably eerie sound while in the company of 8,550 other people.

The Lakers rallied in the second half as LeBron James went into bully ball mode and Dennis Schröder finally started making some shots, cutting the deficit to 10 points with eight minutes left. But it was too little, too late.

Last year, the Lakers ended their season with euphoric screams as they jumped into one another's arms.

This season, a stone-faced James did his special handshake with each of his teammates before solemnly walking alone through the tunnel into a summer break that came two months earlier than expected.

James, of course, has widely shouldered the blame for his team's collapse, with people using it as a justification to claim Father Time has finally caught up to him.

He's too old, they say. His 18 seasons have finally gotten to him, they say. He has hit a wall, they say.

But that's a half-truth. More accurate: James was playing with one good ankle.

James acknowledged that he never recovered from the high right ankle sprain suffered in March that sidelined him for 26 games. His play reflected that. He looked drained, physically and mentally, even as he led his team with 29 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Last year, James was shattering records on a seemingly nightly basis during his team's championship run.

This year, he shattered his own records — in all of the wrong ways.

James was booted from the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his 15 postseasons. He snapped his streak of making the NBA Finals in each of his past nine playoff appearances.

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It was all just too much.

After a historically short, 71-day offseason, the Lakers were gassed. Their bodies broke down. The rigors of not having time to rest and reset eroded their muscles and their psyches.

There's no question that this season ended in disappointment. But there was also a palpable sense of relief that it ended — period — after a seemingly endless marathon that began two years ago.

The Lakers will finally get a chance to recalibrate this offseason.

"It’s going to work wonders for me," James said.

This Lakers team still believes in itself.

They roared to a 21-6 start at the top of the season before their wheels started creaking and eventually dislodged. Now, they'll have months to make sure everything is working right again.

It's a huge relief for a team that has been on the hamster wheel for far too long. They're now going to get to step off of it.

There will be many questions this offseason, including what needs to be done about a supporting cast that largely disappeared when it was needed most.

But the biggest question of all will never be answered: What if Davis and James had remained healthy?

"I do think we had a group that could repeat this year had it not been for the injuries," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.

Now, the Lakers' long summer break begins.

Davis will finally give his body the 10-14-day break his Grade 1 groin strain requires. And James plans to let his 36-year-old body truly heal before his 19th season in the league.

When asked if he's going to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, he said the only competitive basketball he'll be playing during that time will be on movie theater screens.

"Didn’t have much success versus the Suns, so I’m gearing my attention to the Goon Squad here in July, in mid-July," James said, referencing "Space Jam: A New Legacy," in which he appears as a fictionalized version of himself.

The Lakers' season ended in stunning fashion. A team that was favored to repeat as champion flamed out in the first round.

It was incredibly disappointing. But with the promise of some rest, the Lakers are already starting to look ahead.

"I already know I’ll be 100 percent once the season starts in October," James said.

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She has previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.