It’s been clear all season that the Lakers seem to be suffering from a debilitating state of apathy. They know, as we do, how insanely talented the team is. The Lakers are deep at every position and have a number of bench players that would be starters on any other team in the league. They also have one of the best power forwards in Pau Gasol, the best young center in Andrew Bynum, the most versatile match-up nightmare in Lamar Odom, the best shut down defender in Ron Artest, the most timely clutch player in Derek Fisher, and one of the best to ever play the game in Kobe Bryant.
I would say it’s understandable that they feel they could beat every team if they wanted to, but because the Lakers feel like they can flip a switch whenever they want, it leads to incredible laziness and malaise in the regular season. It’s great that they can go to another level in the playoffs and yes it is a grueling season, but they should never lose because of mental lapses in concentration.
In my opinion, they should be engaged every night in trying to eviscerate their opponent, be it the lowly Kings (who beat them) or the dreaded Celtics (who also beat them). According to Wikipedia, apathy is described as a response to an easy challenge for which the subject has matched skills. That is exactly what the Lakers are struggling with, and it is difficult and annoying to watch. At least there have been few injury issues thus far, knock on wood.
