NBA News 2015: Lakers Out of Playoff Contention, Franchise's Earliest Elimination Since 1960
After a grueling and disappointing season, the Los Angeles Lakers have finally been eliminated for a Playoff spot after the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Brooklyn Nets.
With a win-loss record of 17-46, this is currently the third-worst record in the entire NBA.
According to the report by ESPN, this is only the second time in franchise history that the Lakers have failed to make it to the playoffs in consecutive seasons. The first was in 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons.
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This year was supposed to be a promising comeback for Kobe Bryant, who missed majority of last season due to an injury.
The addition of other offensive options such as Carlos Boozer from the Chicago Bulls and Jeremy Lin from the Houston Rockets was also seen as a positive factor in Los Angeles' campaign, and potentially Bryant's penultimate season in the NBA.
Unfortunately, even as early as the pre-season, the Lakers struggled to find fluidity in their offense.
Becoming the go-to guy that he is, Bryant played with the ball most of the time. While this did not keep the Lakers from scoring, Bryant's production was seen as a negative in terms of team scoring.
Now that the Lakers are officially out of the Playoff picture, the management might begin to tank until the regular season ends.
By then, if Los Angeles gets the league's third-worst record, they would get a 96 percent chance to land a first round pick within the top five.
