Philly sports teams have had a rough time the last year or so.

You're really gonna keep up the gaslighting here, eh?

I spent months trying to convince you this was a solid team - an above .500 squad - without James. All the while you're out there making excuses for him quitting on the season.

Then I see Davis come out there and play active, aggressive defense and turn on playoff mode against Memphis and say that the Lakers should be no worse than the 4th spot in Vegas to win the championship.

I know YOU refused to pay attention to anything the Lakers around LeBron were capable of - but no, not all of us were. Even before the playoffs I said I thought LA could play their way out of the play-in bracket and at worst should still be able to advance out of the 1st round. Then once I saw them in the playoffs I said they were a top 4 squad in the NBA.

You were wrong about LA. And to whatever degree you attempt to argue that nobody else was 100% right (and even that's a stretch), NOBODY was nearly as wrong about them as you have consistently been.

But tell me more about how they 'mortgaged their future' by moving a 1st to get Russell Westbrook's trash-ass off the roster.

There's no gaslighting here.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">They laughed at Kendrick Perkins as he foretold what was actually going to happen, who’s laughing now? <a href="https://t.co/boxpB2pgbV">pic.twitter.com/boxpB2pgbV</a></p>&mdash; ²³��������������������������☄️���� (@BronGotGame) <a href="https://twitter.com/BronGotGame/status/1657494242418126849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


People were literally laughing at Kendrick Perkins for suggesting the team was going to make the WCF after the trades. Nobody (except him apparently) believed they would or could do this (no, not even you). You don't get to gloat here about something you never expected.

Once the Lakers looked like the clearly better team than the Grizzlies early in that series, you'll find I said much the same thing. That is not difficult.

Nah, I was exactly right about the Lakers needing to build a team with shooters and defenders around LeBron (which is how he's won all of his other titles) and needing to move washed Russell Westbrook off the team to move forward. The fact that they finally did it and are having success as a result can't be too much of a surprise.

DJ has been spot on about the Lakers since the trade deadline. Props to him.

I don't see any posts about the Lakers making the WCF there, do you?

That particular argument was about LeBron's on/off stats and the team being an absolute disaster this season without him on the court (at least prior to the trades):

The only part of this post that was incorrect from me was the "surefire 1st round exit" part. LeBron did come back and his return did propel them into 7th place. What I didn't see was them being better than the Grizzlies once the playoff started, but nobody else saw that here either. Once it was clear they were better than Memphis, we all did a reevaluation of them at that time.

They were well on their way to the play-in before LeBron came back and it was BECAUSE of that ascension that James decided he'd deign to honor the team with his presence.

He, like you, went into shutdown mode. Unlike you, he's admitted as such.

The Lakers were, as I said before James returned, a threat to advance out of the 1st round if he makes it back. And before the playoffs started I said the 5-6-7 teams are as good/better a bet to advance out of the West than the 1-2-3.

Once Davis established his defensive intensity, it was clear that of the 5-6-7 seeds, the Lakers were the cream of the crop since nobody had an answer for AD.

Quit trying to deflect from your idiocy. You were dead-ass wrong in your analysis of this team and are trying to somehow lump the rest of us in with your absurdity.

What part was incorrect?

I mean, apart from every single declarative statement you made being inaccurate, I'd say you were just spot on...

Lakers went 6-2 after James came back. They finished 5 games ahead the Mavericks for the play-in.

So they'd have had to have gone 1-7 without James to miss the play-in. They'd gone 8-5 without him after the deadline. 8-3 without him and with Davis.

Yeah - you were ALL over it. Even in hindsight you can't admit how unbelievably wrong you were. Because your very identity seems to in some way require making EVERYTHING about LeBron James. A squad who, without James, was putting up some of the best point differentials in the league for several weeks, was obviously just going to roll over and die if he hadn't come back when he did.

This team was playing well enough for James to at least attempt to earn his $44 million salary this season and you absolutely refuse to acknowledge it because you're doubling down on ball-washing. It's just bizarre.

Nah, that was because he got a third opinion from the "LeBron James of feet" in Europe after the first two doctors told him to shut his season down. He should be applauded for doing so.

You never once said this team had a shot at the WCF prior to the playoffs. Nobody here did or ever would have believed such a thing.

I wAs RiGhT aLl AlOnG!!1!!

Ballwasher.

I said they can advance out of the first.

I'm sorry I didn't give you a complete round by round breakdown when I have no idea what the bracket's going to look like beyond that. While you were busy cowering in fear at mighty Warriors, I was quick to point out BEFORE the post-season that the Lakers beat them while they were at full strength and the Lakers didn't have James. In what world would that have not extrapolated to a belief that LA couldn't beat them in the post-season?

This is pathetic, even by your standards.

The surefire 1st round exit part was certainly incorrect. The rest was right on the mark. It was thought there was a good chance at that time that LeBron wouldn't play the rest of the season, but he came back sooner than expected before the end of the month and his return propelled the Lakers into the position they are now.

They likely don't get through Memphis without his heroic effort in the 4th/OT of game 4 of that series and he was by far the best player in game 6 against the Warriors with the series on the line. Downplay his contributions all you want, but they needed him to return to do this.

Upon LeBron's return, the Lakers promptly won 6 of the 8 games he played in (and 7 of the 8 he started) to get into the play-in. They've also taken out the 2nd and 6th seed in large part due to his contributions.

These are irrefutable facts.

If you had said the Lakers were making the WCFs immediately after the trades, you'd have been laughed down just like Perkins was and you know it.

They weren't bad.

They weren't going to miss the play-in without James. They certainly won't a disaster without him and would've very obviously finished in the top 10 of the West even had he not returned.

Again, literally every single declarative statement you made was simply incorrect.

I said then and have said all along - the Lakers NEED James to do anything meaningful in the post-season (as would any team that allocates 1/3 of their salary cap to a single player) and yes, he's been very important to their post-season success.

I'm not downplaying anything - you're the one downplaying the efforts of the 11 other guys on this roster due to your standard insecurities when it comes to anyone who doesn't genuflect at the feet of the mighty King James.