Josh Hart was a massive fan favorite during his short tenure in Los Angeles. We can probably assume that by tomorrow, he won’t be.
As Hart begins his career with the New Orleans Pelicans, he couldn’t refrain from taking some shots at the Los Angeles Lakers. Hart once again appeared on the podcast that he hosts, with Lonzo Ball making an appearance.
While Ball was describing his experience in Lithuania, explaining how depressing it was being in the overseas country, Hart took it to another level — he blasted the Lakers organization for how depressing the culture was last season.
Here is the exchange between Ball and Hart.
Josh Hart sending shots at the Lakers Organization. 👀
This is exactly how the exchange went down.
Ball: Everybody just hates that they’re there (Referring to living in Lithuania). I had to get out of there.
Hart: Sounds like L.A.
Ball: Nah, it’s definitely not L.A.
Hart: No I’m not talking about the city.
Ball: Oh, I don’t know what he’s talking about.
Hart: I was going to say the Lakers organization.
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Josh Hart Was a Positive Force on the Lakers
Prior to these comments, it’s hard to find anything negative from Hart directed at the Lakers organization. He exceeded expectations as a late first-round draft pick and became a valuable role player on a team that was stacked with talent last season.
Obviously, Hart can take all of the shots he wants now at the Lakers — he was traded to the Pelicans in the Anthony Davis trade along with Ball and former top pick Brandon Ingram. Not to mention that he clearly has added motivation against his first NBA team for trading him
The 24-year-old Hart averaged 7.8 points in 25.6 minutes per game while appearing in 67 games and starting 22 of them. In fact, Hart often saw playing time with LeBron James as the team’s go-to defender.
Lakers Miss Playoffs in LeBron James’ First Season
With that said, the playing time obviously wasn’t the issue with Hart — the issue was the Lakers’ disappointing conclusion to what was supposed to a bright campaign in LeBron’s first year in Los Angeles. While the team did get off to a hot start to the season, peaking on Christmas Day with a victory over the defending NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors — without LeBron in the fourth quarter — they quickly nosedived without their franchise star.
When the Lakers defeated the Warriors, 127-101, on Dec. 25, they were 20-14 — just 2.5 games behind the Warriors for the top seed in the conference. They had the fourth-best record in the Western Conference.
However, James’ groin injury led to a depressing — thanks, Josh — stretch that the Lakers could never recover from. They went 6-12 during the 18 games James missed between December and February and were 9-18 overall during LeBron’s missed starts.
It all ended in a disappointing 37-45 record that saw a massive overhaul in the organization — including the dismissals of president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and head coach Luke Walton.
Still, this combined with Ball’s rap song dissing the Lakers will provide for some interesting storylines when these two teams link up for the first time on Nov. 27 in New Orleans.
What do you say, Lakers nation? Is Hart forgivable for these comments that he made towards the Purple and Gold?
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Ex-Lakers Starter Blasts Franchise, Says ‘It was Depressing’ Last Season