Getty Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James
After falling Monday night to the lowly Memphis Grizzlies, the Los Angeles Lakers risk missing the playoffs entirely. This would be the first NBA Playoffs without Lebron James since his second season in 2004-05.
Despite his triple-double and a 32-point effort from Brandon Ingram, the Lakers still somehow found a fall to 29-31, a full 3 games behind the San Antonio Spurs for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference.
While some are talking about their postseason odds, Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd is debating whether or not Los Angeles is actually destined for the NBA Lottery in this summer’s draft.
“The Lakers now have a better chance of landing a Top 3 spot in the NBA lottery than making the playoffs. I’m not joking… It’s ova! Superman’s cape has a tear in it and there’s no tailor around to fix it.” — @ColinCowherd
Cowherd pointed out the scant improvement from last year, as the Lakers finished 35-47 in a year riddled with injuries. “Lebron’s Lakers are on pace to win…39 games,” he said.
“The Lakers are now officially, statistically…have a better chance at landing a top-3 spot in the NBA Lottery than making the playoffs. I’m not joking. 3 percent at making the playoffs according to Basketball Reference. 6 percent to get a top-3 pick in the NBA Lottery.”
As Anthony Koon noted earlier today, the loss lowered the Laker’s playoff odds from 21% down to 19% according to FiveThirtyEight’s CARMELO projections.