Los Angeles Lakers

Has Lakers' biggest struggle this season been staying healthy?

Published Apr. 4, 2022 4:01 p.m. ET

The Los Angeles Lakers continue to slip farther and farther away from the NBA Play-In Tournament.

They are now 11th in the Western Conference (31-47) after falling to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. The Lakers are two games behind the San Antonio Spurs, who hold the tiebreaker, for 10th place with only four games left. What's more, they play the league-leading Phoenix Suns on Tuesday followed by the third-place Golden State Warriors on Thursday.

Anthony Davis, who has missed 39 of the Lakers' 78 games due to injury, blamed health issues after L.A.'s sixth consecutive loss.

Anthony Davis blames health issues after Lakers' loss.

Nick Wright and Chris Broussard discuss where the Los Angeles Lakers would be if LeBron James and Anthony Davis had been healthy this season.

On Monday's "First Things First," Chris Broussard reacted to Davis' comments and explained why he believes that there are many reasons why the Lakers aren't clicking this season — and it's not just a bad case of the injury bug.

"Russell Westbrook — we all said, ‘He’s not going to fit.' Even when the Big 3 of LeBron [James], AD and Westbrook play together, they're 11-10 with a -3.5 net rating. So even those three, when they're healthy, just haven't played very well together," Broussard said.

"The age is huge. They're one of the oldest teams in NBA history, and age matters more as a negative nowadays than it used to. … Older guys are at more of a deficit defensively than even they used to be."

"[Davis] needs an attitude adjustment, along with all types of other adjustments … this offseason to commit himself to being more healthy than he has been," Broussard added.

Davis, James and Westbrook have played only 21 of a possible 78 games together this season, and the Lakers had the oldest roster entering the 2021-22 season for an average age of 30.

Nick Wright echoed Broussard's thoughts, expanding on the notion that health — or lack thereof — is not the biggest reason for the Lakers' struggles this season.

"Even if LeBron and AD had been healthy all year, they obviously wouldn't be missing the play-in and missing the playoffs, but this team didn't have the pieces requisite to win a title," he said.

"Everyone put it on Russ, but you saw last night … even when Russ plays efficient, smart, good basketball — team can't defend."

The Lakers allowed the Nuggets to make 57.3% of their shots from the field in Sunday's 129-118 loss.

James did not play due to a lingering ankle sprain that also caused him to miss two games last week.

Kevin Wildes shared a bold take on how to solve the Lakers' "broken" situation.

"I think the answer to the Lakers' roster is that LeBron leaves totally," he said.

"There [are] two teams in L.A., and I think LeBron should initiate — or at least start considering — a trade to the Clippers for either Paul George or Kawhi [Leonard]. … They're in the playoffs, and that's a testament to a better roster construction and their coach. Who's their coach? Ty Lue — LeBron's buddy, who he wanted to coach the Lakers [and] who he's already won a championship with. How about Steve Ballmer? Is hungry for the championship and has the deepest pockets in the entire league? Yeah. Do I think he'd be willing to go all-in for LeBron while he's opening up a new stadium? Yes, I do."