The 2014/15 Los Angeles Lakers season ends on Wednesday night, and boy, just about everyone is excited for this one to end.
How excited? Well, Lakers coach Byron Scott did not think he even needed to wait until the end of the season to start parading players through exit interviews and out the door. Jeremy Lin, Wayne Ellington, Ronnie Price, Julius Randle and Nick Young should be at Wednesday night's game, but the five-some of injured players could well be out of the country and on vacation by Thursday morning.
Kobe Bryant also expects to be at Wednesday's game, but Bryant does not expect to have an exit interview for the second time in as many years. In defense of the five-time champion, he did sit down with media for an extended exit interview when he first began showing up to home games following surgery on his shoulder.
In any case, the Lakers expect to wrap up exit interviews on Thursday and tie a bow on a season that looked and smelled like manure. Before all that, a hobbled LA Lakers team must finish 48 more minutes against the Sacramento Kings.
Winning no longer hurts the Lakers and losing no longer helps the Lakers, as the purple and gold enter the NBA's draft lottery with the fourth best standing and an 11.9 percent chance of getting the no. 1 overall pick. The team also has a 17.2 percent chance of missing out on the NBA draft altogether, as those are the odds at least two teams below the Lakers win the lottery and push LA outside the top-five picks. If the Lakers fall from fourth to sixth or seventh, the Philadelphia 76ers would take LA's only reward for an historically bad season.
How bad has this season been? With 21 wins and 60 losses, the 2014/15 Lakers have already ensured that they will finish as the worst team since the franchise moved to LA. Also, they sunk the Lakers to 60 losses for the first time ever. Previously, the Lakers had been the only NBA team never to hit the 60-loss mark--not anymore.
Wednesday's game, however, carries major meaning. If the Lakers lose against the Kings in the finale, they will overtake the 1957/58 Minneapolis Lakers as the worst team in franchise history based on winning percentage. If the Lakers win, they will narrowly best the 1957/58 team that finished with a record of 19-53 in a 72-game season. Worth pointing out, the 2014/15 LA Lakers held an identical mark of 19-53 through 72 games of their 82-game season.
Game no. 82 tips at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, as the 2014/15 Lakers attempt to avoid falling to the absolute bottom. Win or lose, the season ends on Wednesday, and boy, is that a relief.
