AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
The Los Angeles Lakers have missed out on the playoffs in half of the four years that they have had James.
Los Angeles was eliminated from playoff contention after falling to the Phoenix Suns. The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Denver Nuggets 116-97, giving them a three-game lead over the Lakers for the 10th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The development is stunning considering how much preseason love the Purple and Gold received. The team is likely to have five future Hall of Famers on it, including James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard.
It was so much for that.
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel, who is firmly on the hot seat, discussed his feelings regarding missing out on the playoffs completely, per Dave McMenamin. Disappointed for our fans. We were disappointed for the Buss family, who gave us all this opportunity and we want to play our part in bringing success to Laker basketball.
From the beginning of the season, it was clear that the addition of Westbrook wasn't going to work out. His inability to consistently hit from the outside prevented him from fully taking advantage of the spacing created by the attention the King and Davis drew, making him an awkward fit with James since both have been such ball-dominant players throughout their careers.
The criticism he has received has weighed on him and his family this season.
Davis and James missed a lot of time with injuries throughout the campaign.
Davis told reporters that he was frustrated by the injuries he sustained in the April loss to the Denver Nuggets.
"I think the biggest thing that I think about personally is what we could have been, had we stayed healthy all year. What could we have been. ... Guys feel like, 'OK, what could we have been if I was healthy all year, [LeBron James] was healthy, [Kendrick] Nunn was healthy.' You think about those things. We put this team together and it looked good on paper, but we haven't had a chance to reach that potential with guys in and out of the lineup.
"So the most frustrating part of this season is not being sure of what we could have been."
James missed his fourth game in the past five due to ankle soreness, while Davis played after an extended absence due to a foot injury.
Thanks to the injuries to James and Davis, the Lakers were left fighting for a spot in the play-in tournament instead of competing with the Suns and others in the Western Conference.
Things went from bad to worse after the All-Star Break and it appeared as if they would at least land one of those play-in spots.
The Lakers lost to the L.A. Clippers on Feb. 25 and have not won since. They fell out of the play-in tournament as a result and will enter a crucial offseason with James set to turn 38 in December.
The Lakers missed out on the play-in tournament because of injuries to Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
This is more disappointment for a team that lost to the Suns in the first round of the playoffs last year.
They won the championship inside the bubble of the Disney World Resort. This latest failure would look worse if it weren't for the fact that.
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