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Things are starting to get ugly for the Los Angeles Lakers. After a solid 12-8 start to the season, the team has lost back-to-back games by a combined 70 points.
Though Bronny James hasn’t played a game for the Lakers since Nov. 10, many have set him in their sites amid the team’s struggles. Former Laker and No. 1 Kwame Brown believes the team needs to cut James and replace him with South Bay Lakers guard Quincy Olivari.
“We’ve got a kid who does not deserve his job,” Brown said of James on a Nov. 27 video posted to his YouTube channel. “Why can’t they just cut Bronny and bring up Quincy, somebody to help the Lakers? They just got their [expletive] whooped by 25.”
Olivari is scoring 21.4 points per game in the NBA G League and has certainly caught some attention. James has only played in two G League games and averaging 5.0 points a game. Olivari may end up getting a chance to get some action for the Lakers even without them cutting James but that remains to be seen.
Amid the team’s struggles, they do need something to give them a boost but Olivari is an undrafted rookie who has yet to play in an NBA game yet.
Cutting Bronny James Is Highly Unlikely
At this point in the season, it’s hard to imagine the Lakers would actually consider cutting James. That could cause a bigger distraction than it would bring any sort of help.
Also, why would the Lakers want to irk LeBron James while the team struggling? The last thing he needs to be worrying about is his son’s status with the team. Even if Olivari were to replace Bronny James, it’s highly unlikely he’d be able to make much of an impact.
The Lakers have far bigger problems than the younger James right now and that’s what they should be focused on.
LeBron James Talks Loss to Heat
On Wednesday, the Lakers suffered their worst loss of the season against the Miami Heat. Los Angeles lost 134-93 and LeBron James was the only player to score more than 14 points.
While many are placing blame on rookie head coach JJ Redick, James believes that the players simply aren’t executing at a high enough level.
“There’s no schemes or Xs and Os that are gonna get you through that,” James said after the game. “If you don’t want to come to compete, then that’s other issues. We gotta figure it out.”
The Lakers are playing some bad basketball right now, but they are still in the mix at 12-10. James is confident that the team can start to turn things around if the players step up.
“I think we squash it, for sure,” James said. “And just see when you’re individually [expletive] up and you’re trying to rely on everybody else to cover for you, I think it starts on individuals first. All of us have to take accountability. It’s great to see it on film and address it right there — right then and there. And then go from there.”
