The Los Angeles Lakers are the premier brand in the NBA, even when they’re not a playoff contender. They’re barely a playoff contender this year, but that’s a far cry from the championship expectations they entered the season with. The 2021-22 Lakers have fluctuated between mediocre and (especially lately) downright unwatchable, which is especially disastrous when a team literally has the most nationally televised games of any organization in the league.
For the most popular television analyst in the NBA, Thursday night’s drubbing at the hands of the Clippers on TNT was the last straw.