LeBron, Westbrook and Davis debut in Lakers' latest preseason loss
The 360-degree era of Lakers basketball is officially underway.
Anthony Davis (No. 3), LeBron James (now wearing No. 6) and Russell Westbrook (back to wearing No. 0) played their first stretch of in-game minutes together in Tuesday night's preseason outing versus the Golden State Warriors, and while the trifecta only shared the court for a short time, the world got its first glimpse of the core that hopes to bring the Lakers out of the West.
James finished with 17 points, six boards, four assists and three steals. He also added six turnovers.
A.D. meanwhile, went to work in the post, tallying 20 points and six rebounds.
As for Westbrook, despite turning the ball over five times, he posted his usual double-double, scoring 10 points to complement 10 boards and six assists.
While growing pains were to be expected from a team trying to smash together new pieces into a championship puzzle, few could've foreseen L.A. opening their slate of exhibition games with five straight losses, after their 111-99 defeat at the hands of Golden State.
Still, it's only the preseason, and these games mean nothing more than reps and experience – except through the eyes of Skip Bayless.
"LeBron comes out and looks completely out of whack," Bayless said of the game on Wednesday's episode of "Undisputed."
"It's [like a] fire drill. A lot of looking at each other like, 'Who's gonna do what?' There was no well-oiled machine. Right away it looked like LeBron had caught Russell's turnover fever. He had six turnovers with eight minutes left in the second quarter. I thought he was going to go for the record."
But Bayless didn't limit his criticisms to James.
"Russ is on a record preseason turnover pace. His first stint he had six, then he comes back on Sunday and has nine, and last night he had five more. That's 20 in six quarters. He's out of control. So far, so bad."
Shannon Sharpe, while less rigid in his evaluation, admitted that finding a balanced rhythm wouldn't be as easy as 1, 2, 3.
"When you're on a team that thinks it can contend for a title, you can't attempt a lot of those passes," Sharpe said about Westbrook. "He's played the way we're seeing him play right now a lot longer than he hasn't. It's going to be hard to break that tendency. It's not a natural fit, and any time something isn't a natural fit, it takes a lot longer for it to fit."
"They might have to go past Christmas into the new year [before they figure it out]. They have to figure out how to blend this talent, these egos, and a lot of shots. Everybody wants theirs."
Shannon Sharpe reacts to Lakers' fifth preseason loss: They are "not a natural fit." I UNDISPUTED
Sharpe and Bayless' words don't come as a surprise. The Lakers know they will have to navigate through an acute learning curve, as James acknowledged.
"It's going to take a minute for us to become the team that we know we are going to be capable of being," James said following the loss. "We're going to have moments where we're not quite right there. We may take steps backward. I think nothing is worth having if it's not worth working for."
James emphasized that he carries a responsibility to keep his cool under pressure.
"Me, as a leader, my job is for myself not to get frustrated," he added. "If I don't get frustrated, I think it will trickle down to everyone else. I've never been a person that's OK with not being excellent. But I understand things take time as well."
Westbrook reiterated the King's thoughts.
"Obviously, it's the first game," Westbrook said. "But there are some good things we can take from it. We had some good spurts … We can be a little encouraged by it."
Davis backed up the other two members of their triumvirate.
"We saw some great things with me, Bron and Russ in action," Davis explained. "There are endless possibilities."
The Lakers hope that those possibilities will begin to actualize when L.A. begins the regular season next Tuesday against Golden State.
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