Wow, the Lakers Really Suck

For the last 10 games the Lakers are 2-8 and the Dodgers, who have been lousy since before this year's high school seniors were born, are 7-3.

Did I wake up on Bizarro World?

In a post early in this basketball season, I actually considered whether the Lakers would remain a .700 baskeball team. (I won't link because it's too embarrassing.) What a joke! The question now, with the Lakers at 40-40 with two games left is: Will they finish at .500 or above? The Lakers are in serious danger of playing themselves out of the playoffs and into the lottery!

Pardon my astonishment -- I know you Atlanta Hawks fans are used to losing, but this is the Lakers we're talking about. The Lakers. Showtime. George Mikan, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Michael Cooper, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Jack Nicholson -- those Lakers. Chick Hearn, their announcer for a century or so, invented the terms "slam dunk" and "airball." This franchise is not supposed to be a .500 basketball team.

Why are they losing? A lot of people talk about injuries, but there is only one real reason: they are not a good team. It's just not working. They need to get rid of some of their goodish players to get one or two more great players. I offer this advice to Dr. Buss free of charge, out of my love for the purple and gold.

Okay, you can all begin your chant now. "Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA!" I love it when you guys do that, because hey -- we're LA. The rest of the country should want to beat us. I might note that no one chants "Beat Milwaukee! Beat Milwaukee! Beat Milwaukee!" Although Californians have been known to ask, "Where's Milwaukee?"

UPDATE: Corrected MICHAEL Cooper's name, as per Blair's comment.