The Los Angeles Lakers’ season came to a disappointing conclusion this past week.
As part of the post-mortem, many are now trying to pinpoint where precisely things went wrong for the defending champs.
One obvious problem area?
Dennis Schroder’s fit.
Schroder was added in the offseason as a means of shoring up the Lakers’ notable weakness at point guard. And while he was a solid player on the court sometimes, he came with his fair share of headaches.
All these headaches eventually pushed the Lakers over the point of no return.
According to ESPN NBA insider Ramona Shelburne, the relationship between Schroder and LA has been trending in the wrong direction for months.
“The relationship started off awkwardly with Schroder stating publicly he expected to start even though he’d had success off the bench with the Oklahoma City Thunder and finished as runner-up in Sixth Man of the Year voting last year,” she wrote.
“And it got worse with each long-term contract extension he turned down. The Lakers acceded to his request to start, and continued negotiating with his representatives on a rich contract extension.
“But his play on the court frustrated some in the organization, according to sources. By the trade deadline, L.A. was including him in trade discussions for Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry.”
That’s one way to watch a game. https://t.co/rlfZSR4DDe
— Game 7 (@game7__) May 13, 2021
Schroder’s tendency to act out was on full display prior to Game 6, when he publicly embarrassed the Lakers on social media.
One day later, he came out with a fairly blunt message about his future with the organization.
Obviously anything can happen, but at the moment all signs point to the Lakers and Schroder heading their separate ways come the offseason.
Related: Kyle Kuzma’s Bizarre Assessment Of His Lakers Season
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
