The Phoenix Suns almost bamboozled it but Ayton seems to be finding his groove!

It's been that kind of night for LeBron and the Lakers in Phoenix 😬 pic.twitter.com/B4YXs3g39S — NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 3, 2019

This short clip basically sums up this game season for the Lakers, Suns played great defense against them, focusing on protecting the interior, because how else would the Lakers score?

Honestly, Ayton killed it guarding Lebron. The fact that when he was matched up by Kyle Kuzma, he feasted was something to behold. Booker looks like he’s going to be a good leader and I may take back my previous statement on him leaving in 1-3years if the suns hit on their pick this year and develop him & Ayton while surrounding them both with competent players.

Deandre Ayton patrolled the paint with 26 PTS & 10 REB as the Suns defeated the Lakers last night 👏☀️ pic.twitter.com/YLHNkeHT1n — NBA UK (@NBAUK) March 3, 2019

Kelly Oubre though has impressed me a bit with his actual trying defense, nearly getting a steal off of the Lakers to seal it up for his team so that was a plus, Booker again seems to be developing a good bond with Ayton & for that, I may watch more Suns games this season. Great win for the Suns.

OOF, So What’s next for the Lebron-led Lakers?…

On the LA side, I was scared that they might win it towards the end with that LeBron dunk but their lack of shooting – be it from the perimeter or just in general, free throws seems to be killing them when it comes to closing out games. I feel like Josh Hart has come back down to earth and yes that foul towards the end was stupid but the fact that it even came down to that against arguably the worst team in the league, it’s tragic for this team. While you may put the blame on Walton for his rotations, Lebron’s lack of effort/leadership(back on that later) & the Lakers inability to get a group of guys to shoot/play defense it seems to me that the bigger problem is that they’re not playing for one another & I don’t mean just the vets.

LeBron frustrated during the loss against the Suns. 👀 pic.twitter.com/wZfnUpRHQa — House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) March 3, 2019

Hell Kuzma admits to this as a big factor of them losing games, he’s not wrong at all

More Kuz: "We have to figure out a way to play for one another. We're losing to teams we shouldn’t lose to. We've lost to every bad team in the league, and that's unacceptable."#Lakers #LakeShow — Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) March 3, 2019

Lebron I believe has ruined the chemistry of this Lakers team, be it for the 1 yr guys or the young core, they just don’t mesh well together at all. If LeBron hadn’t gone to the Lakers, personally I think they’d be in a similar position to the Kings, a young dynamic team who has the talent to grow and be great yet Lebron’s decision to go to LA basically tried to rush their growth, use their growth for a sure-fire bet (AD trade) & now since that’s backfired it’s ruined the spirits of this Lakers team/front office.

I’ve been watching more Lakers games mainly to see if they have what it takes to make it to the playoffs, this loss, the loss to the AD-less Pels(great win for them), that barely W on Houston, loss to us the Knicks, the Grizzlies and the Bucks loss all show that this team is not cohesive at all. Now, this may be a controversial take to the rest of the basketball world but personally, I think the laker fans are slowly but surely coming to realize this.

Brandon Ingram is the kind of Leader they need

Yup I said it a few days ago but seriously, BI has that Mamba Mentality because of his lack of care about his personal stats, what dunks he would’ve liked to get vs the Bucks & he’s really straight with what he wants, no throwing the team under the bus, he’s not blaming anyone else on the team, he just wants to win no matter what and that really does remind me of Kobe.

That mentality of not giving a flying rat’s ass about anything except the W is the thing that made Kobe great, it’s what made MJ great it’s the kind of mentality that I believe Lebron is lacking, you cannot be a leader if you’re posting up individual allocades on social media, hinting at distractions off-court or even dancing in practice. While this is going on, Ingram has dramatically increased his own production, finally living up to the hype of his draft position, take a look at his recent games and look what he’s averaging:

Can confirm LeBron James was shooting and dancing at today’s Lakers shootaround. pic.twitter.com/JUyuTSGQxh — Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) March 1, 2019

Personally I now belive BI is the go-to-guy in the future for them(if they keep him) and they better because out of all of the lakers overhyped core, Ingram is the only one who is balling the fuck out for them. As a former Ingram hater, I’ve changed my opinion, keep him, do what you can with LeBron or even try to trade him (prob not happening) but keep Ingram.

TL;DR: The Lakers need to focus on playing with each other, Lebron’s not a real leader or at least the one they need, Ingram is & the Suns might have something on their hands w Ayton & Booker being a dynamic duo along w developing/coaching their players right.