LeBron James mocked the play-in tournament last season, and now it's his only hope to save the Lakers' nightmare season
- The Lakers are in danger of falling out of the play-in tournament, which LeBron James once mocked.
- The Lakers are half-a-game ahead of the 11th place Spurs with a harder schedule to play.
Last season, as the Los Angeles Lakers sat in seventh place with the regular season winding down, LeBron James mocked the idea of the play-in tournament.
"Whoever came up with that shit needs to be fired," James told reporters.
Now, the Lakers desperately need the play-in tournament to keep their postseason dreams alive. But even the tournament might be out of reach.
At 31-43, the Lakers currently sit in 10th place in the Western Conference, the last spot of the play-in tournament, which pits the 7-10 seeds against each other to decide the last two playoff spots in each conference.
The Lakers trail the ninth-place New Orleans Pelicans by half a game, but Los Angeles lost the tiebreaker by losing the season series with 116-108 loss to the Pelicans Sunday.
The Lakers are half a game ahead of the 11th-place San Antonio Spurs. But the two teams appear to be going in opposite directions: The Spurs have won four games in a row and six of their last 10, while the Lakers have lost three of their last four and 12 of their last 16.
According to Tankathon, the Lakers have the second-hardest schedule remaining, while the Spurs have the fifth-hardest.
The Lakers are also dealing with injuries. James hurt his ankle during the Pelicans loss. He has also been playing through knee soreness. He and Anthony Davis, who has been out since February 16 with an ankle sprain, are both doubtful to play in Tuesday's game against the Dallas Mavericks. It's unclear how long both players may remain out.
A Lakers loss on Tuesday and Spurs win on Wednesday would put the Lakers in 11th place, on the outside looking in.
Though the Spurs beating the second-place Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday is no sure thing, San Antonio will then get back-to-back games against the openly tanking Portland Trail Blazers. Meanwhile, five of the Lakers next six games come against teams comfortably in playoff position in the Western Conference.
Throughout the season there has been optimism that if the Lakers can get Davis and James healthy for the play-in tournament, they could advance to the playoffs and make some noise. Shaquille O'Neal even said he would pick a healthy Lakers team to beat the Conference-leading Phoenix Suns in the first round.
If the Lakers get the 10th seed, they'll make the play-in tournament and have to win two games to grab the 8th seed. They'd have to beat the ninth-place team in the first game, then the loser of the game between No. 7 and No. 8. Considering the Lakers haven't won back-to-back games since the first week in January, that's certainly no sure thing.
It's a fitting end to a miserable season in LA. The trade for Russell Westbrook — that many thought was ill-advised at the time — has proven to be ineffective. James and Davis have played just 21 games together due to injuries. The veteran signings the Lakers made (beyond 37-year-old Carmelo Anthony) haven't paid off, and they have little in the way of promising young players to develop for the future.
Barring a Westbrook trade in the off-season, the Lakers are set to pay $130 million in salary to the trio of Westbrook, James, and Davis next season. They won't have cap space or a first-round pick to trade until 2027.
The Lakers went all-in and could still end up short of the playoffs in a league where two-thirds of the teams can qualify, thanks to the play-in tournament.