NEW ORLEANS – LeBron James had options when he signed with the Lakers. He could have gone to Philadelphia to take a team on the rise to new heights. He could have stayed in Cleveland, where he had carved out an annual path to the Finals. Instead, he chose to come to Los Angeles and join a team that had cycled through 62 players in the five seasons since it last made the playoffs.



He knew what he was getting into with a young team that would rely heavily on five players in their second or third years.



“I knew it was going to be very challenging,” James said Saturday night. “Just because of the experience the roster had at that point and time. I knew it was going to be challenging from that sense, but I felt like we could still play better basketball.”



But now he’s … not so sure?



In the 59th game of James’ Lakers adventure, the team is very much at risk of missing the postseason for a sixth straight...