The Los Angeles Lakers lost their opening game of the NBA season as they were beaten 123-109 by the Golden State Warriors, and LeBron James seemed frustrated with the options around him.
The 37-year-old proved that age is just a number on the opening night of the regular season, netting 31 points and 14 rebounds while just missing out on a triple-double. Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook also contributed with solid numbers, but elsewhere on the court the contribution was lacking.
The Warriors were spearheaded by Stephen Curry as always, but even with a 33-point haul all eyes weren't on him, as it was a valiant team effort once again. There's a reason they're the NBA champions and it's clear to see why the Lakers didn't even make the play-offs last year, and James is already annoyed.
Speaking after their opening night defeat, James told reporters: "We’re getting great looks, but it could also be teams giving us great looks. To be completely honest, we’re not a team constructed of great shooting… It’s not like we’re sitting here with a lot of lasers on our team.
"That still doesn't deter us from trying to get great shots but when you get those opportunities you take them. But we are not sitting here with a bunch of players with 40 plus point games."
On paper, the Lakers should be easing their way through the season with Davis and Westbrook supporting James. But it just goes to show that you still need a team in and around the star players.
The Lakers last won the NBA in 2020, but have seen a major fall from grace as they finished with a 0.402 win percentage last season, and they failed to qualify for the play-offs. Things may be different this time around, and losing to the Warriors is nothing to be ashamed of, but their awful pre-season run will alarm the Lakers.
Only one win was picked up in pre-season by the Lakers, in six outings. And James has already been warned about another gruelling campaign with the Lakers.
Shannon Sharpe didn't hold back when slating the Lakers, and fired a huge red flag James' way on Undisputed, as he said: "I don't want to overreact because it's pre-season and these guys are trying to get some conditioning, but everything seems to be a struggle again. Everything seems to be a struggle, just like it was last year.
"They don't get a lot of cheap baskets they don't get out and transition, so to be short, I don't see a 60 win team. Right now, I see more problems with the Lakers than plusses.
"What did they add from last year? For me, I still see all of the same problems." The Lakers next take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, which will be their first outing of the season.
