Nobody tell the Lakers that Festivus was last week, because they've got a lot of problems with you people and you're going to hear about them.
Los Angeles has lost seven of their last eight and the team decided they needed to hold a meeting to discuss their problems. The airing of grievances was led by coach Luke Walton, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Lakers had a team meeting yesterday instead of practice. Luke Walton gave players the floor to discuss whatever was on their mind. Lots of talk about frustrations guy were feeling, both on the court and with the business of the organization.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) December 29, 2017
Lakers had a team meeting yesterday where players aired grievances about what’s happening on the court and, per Brandon Ingram, “the business of the organization.”
— Bill Oram (@billoram) December 29, 2017
While the Lakers have been competitive in most of their games this season, a loss is still a loss, and it's hard to get over them when they start to stack up like it has. A team meeting can be a healthy way to get through issues on the court and work through them in a non-practice setting. This is particularly useful with how difficult it is for teams to find practice time in the middle of the season.
What's interesting is that Brandon Ingram mentioned the business side of the organization came up as well. It's possible that many Lakers players, especially the younger guys, are tired of having their names come up in trade rumors all the time. Everybody knows about their plans to sign a big free agent this summer because it's something the organization has publicly talked about. So it can't be comforting if you're a Jordan Clarkson, or a Julius Randle, to know that your future with the organization is potentially in doubt if at any point a star decides they want to join the Lakers.
Los Angeles will play the Clippers on Friday. It will be interesting to see if the meeting helps lead to a positive result on the court.
