The Los Angeles Lakers entered the 2021-2022 season with championship aspirations. They didn’t even make the play-in tournament.
After finishing 33-49, Los Angeles is just one of just 10 NBA teams not vying for a title. The Lakers dropped 18 of their final 24 games, including an eight-game losing streak that sealed their fate.
When reflecting on their disastrous season, Rob Pelinka used a word that will routinely be uttered in postmortems.
During Monday’s press conference, via Daniel Starkand of Lakers Nation, the general manager called their season “disappointing” at “every level.”
“When you have disappointment, you have to take ownership of that and vow to be better,” Pelinka told reporters.
Rob Pelinka says this was a “disappointing” season at “every level.”
He adds that it starts with the front office, and then on down to the coaches, training staff and players.
“When you have disappointment, you have to take ownership of that and vow to be better.”
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) April 11, 2022
Although Pelinka took “full responsibility” for their ill-fated basketball decisions, such as acquiring Russell Westbrook, the Lakers started the offseason by firing head coach Frank Vogel.
Pelinka said it was “time for a new voice” from Vogel, who guided them to a championship in his first of three seasons.
On Frank Vogel’s firing, Rob Pelinka says they just felt it was “time for a new voice.”
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) April 11, 2022
The Lakers couldn’t salvage a play-in spot despite rostering five potential Hall of Famers in LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, and Westbrook. Each of them have at least eight All-Star appearances, and all them besides Howard were named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
It was indeed a wildly disappointing season, so Vogel’s dismissal could be the first of Pelinka’s many offseason changes.
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