Sports
Column: 'There’s no excuses for us.' Lakers' ineptitude continues, with no letup in sight
If this wasn’t rock bottom for the Lakers, if a performance that was atrocious in nearly every significant way wasn’t the worst moment of a season that’s rapidly taking on the sour stench of frustration and the annoying whine of making excuses instead of making shots, it’s difficult to imagine how much worse this can be.
But stick around. The answer could come as soon as Friday, when the now sub-.500 Lakers take a three-game losing streak into a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies, or on Sunday against the hot Clippers.
The Lakers’ stumbles and ineptitude at both ends of the floor were epic in a 110-96 loss to the Miami Heat at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday. They got off to another slow start. They committed 22 turnovers, which the Heat turned into 22 points. They hit only four of 30 three-point attempts. “Shooting 13%, you’re not going to win those games when you do that,” a subdued Austin Reaves said with as much disgust as accuracy.
The Lakers (17-18) now have lost four of their last five games and nine of 12 since they won the NBA’s in-season tournament. Of their three victories, two were over weak opponents, San Antonio and Charlotte. Only their win at Oklahoma City on Dec. 23 can be considered a quality victory.
The sobering part is that during this stretch Anthony Davis (29 points, 17 rebounds, six assists on Wednesday) has been superb. LeBron James, though noticeably off against Miami with a six-for-18 shooting performance and 12 points, has been good — though he took a rare night off from postgame interviews. Reaves, restored to the starting lineup against the Heat, responded with a season-high 24 points and has overall been solid lately. The Lakers aren’t losing because their big guys are playing poorly or are missing due to illness or injury.
They’re losing, not because Gabe Vincent had knee surgery or Rui Hachimura had a facial fracture and more recently a calf strain, or Jarred Vanderbilt has been in and out of the lineup because of injuries. They’re losing because their roster is badly constructed, because Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince remain in the starting lineup despite being offensive liabilities: neither scored a point against Miami, with Reddish playing 18:40 and Prince 28:48.
But coach Darvin Ham, while saying no excuse is acceptable for losing, continued to offer excuses and insist that the lack of consistency in their lineup is a cause of this mess.
“We can’t find any consistency until we get healthy. It’s as simple as that. We’ve got to get healthy,” he said. “And once you get healthy, guys have got to get back in rhythm and we’ve got to find a cohesive unit, a total cohesive rotation that we can go with. You’re dealing with different guys being in and out of the lineup that frequently it’s damned near impossible to find a rhythm. That’s just being real.”
Even Davis didn’t buy that.
“I don’t think it’s a whole thing of who’s starting and who’s not. Everybody is capable of doing what we have to do to win basketball games on both ends of the floor. So the whole lineup thing is an excuse,” he said. “We have high-level-IQ guys who know what they should be doing individually and what we should be doing as a team on both ends of the floor.
“[On Wednesday] they threw a zone in and they just dared us to make shots and we didn’t. Kind of took us out of our thing, but 10 turnovers in the first quarter was kind of a recipe for disaster.”
Not kind of. It was.
“It’s a little bit of everything right now. We’re not executing,” Davis said. “That team played harder than us tonight, executed better than us tonight, more physical than us tonight. We got outworked tonight, so it’s a bit of everything right now. If we keep on this train, it’s not going to be good for us.
“It’s kind of obvious that we have to figure it out sooner than later. Guys being out is no excuse. There’s no excuses for us. Every guy in this locker room is here to win, but we just have to go out and compete.”
And if they don’t, what felt like rock bottom could turn out to be the good old days. Asked after the game if it represented the worst moment of the Lakers’ season, Reaves said he’d likely do the same soul-searching he always does after a loss.
“You replay the game in your mind and think about all of the things you could’ve done better, that we could’ve done better as a collective group. And just think about it,” he said.
“But I wouldn’t say it’s a low point of the season. I think there’s too much time left to sit here and feel sad for ourselves. We gotta figure it out. That’s the main thing. Sitting here feeling sad for ourselves isn’t gonna be the culprit to us figuring it out. We have to, like I said, figure it out. Step up and look in the mirror. If it’s you, that you can do something better, or you can speak to your teammates to do something better, then do that. But I wouldn’t call it a low moment.”
Then call it another big stumble in a season full of potholes that excuses can’t fill.
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Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley sounded off on the frenzied reactions to the U.S. men’s hockey team getting invited to the White House by President Donald Trump.
Trump talked to the Olympic gold medal-winning team immediately after they defeated Canada in overtime last weekend. He said they would be invited to his State of the Union address and added that he needed to invite the women’s team as well or he would be “impeached.”
Charles Barkley sits courtside against the Minnesota Timberwolves during an NBA Cup game at Mortgage Matchup Center on Nov. 21, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
Trump critics took the joke as a shot at the women’s team, which sparked questions from NHL and Professional Women’s Hockey League reporters as the players returned to their respective club teams.
“I’m proud of the United States men. I’m proud of the United States women. You should have invited both of them to the White House, but it shouldn’t have been disrespect, misogyny,” Barkley said on the “Steam Room” podcast. “Like, yo, man, why do y’all have to mess everything up? Everything isn’t Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal. That’s why we got this divided, screwed up country. Stop it man. Because, you know, the public, they’re idiots. They’re fools. They can’t think for themselves. I know y’all say stuff to trigger them. Y’all say stuff and y’all know they’re going to be fools.”
Barkley lamented that the average person would get riled up over the supposed controversy.
The U.S. team poses for a group photo after defeating Canada in the men’s ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Milan, Italy, on Feb. 22, 2026. (Luca Bruno/AP Photo)
“We don’t have to fall for stupidity. But we do – that’s my point. These people out here are stupid. They need something to trigger them. Just because they want us to be stupid. We don’t have to be stupid. He should have invited both teams to the White House. Simple as that. Guys who didn’t want to go shouldn’t have to explain why they didn’t go.”
The former Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns star made clear he would go to the White House regardless of whether Trump was in office.
“I’ve said this before, I’m not a Trump guy. But if I got invited to the White House, I would go. I’m not a Trump guy – I want to make that clear. But I respect the office,” Barkley said. “He’s the president of the United States. But if guys don’t want to go, I understand that too. It doesn’t have to be a talking point. It doesn’t have to be un-American.
Megan Keller (5) celebrates with a flag alongside Cayla Barnes (3) of Team United States after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime during the women’s gold medal match against Canada on Day 13 of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 19, 2026. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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“I just wish y’all would stop falling for the stupidity.”
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Three years ago, as a 14-year-old freshman, Slava Shahbazyan made it to Bakersfield for the state wrestling championships.
“It was good to get experience that young,” he said.
Then came Saturday night when he had a breakthrough moment, winning the state 165-pound championship as a 17-year-old senior for Birmingham High.
“It means everything to me,” he said. “It took four years.”
Shahbazyan, who transferred from Chaminade after his sophomore year, is set to attend Stanford and still in the hunt to be valedictorian at Birmingham. Coach Jimmy Medeiros said he was close to winning last season before finishing fourth.
“He got a lot better,” Medeiros said.
Shahbazyan has been wrestling since he was 8. “My father loves wrestling,” he said.
Two St. John Bosco wrestlers, Jesse Grajeda at 144 pounds and Michael Romero at 150 pounds, also won state titles.
Here’s the link to complete results.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
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Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Dominiq Ponder died this weekend, the team’s head coach Deion Sanders confirmed on Sunday with a social media post.
“God please comfort the Ponder family, friends and loved ones,” Sanders wrote on social media. “Dom was one of my favorites! He was Loved, Respected & a Born Leader. Let’s pray for all that knew him & had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord you’re receiving a good 1. Comfort us Lord Comfort us.”
Ponder was 23 years old.
Details of Ponder’s death are not yet known.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his team warm up before an NCAA college football game against TCU Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)
Ponder, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound signal caller, joined the Buffaloes and “Coach Prime’s” program in 2024 after spending time at Bethune-Cookman before making his way to Boulder.
Last season, Ponder played just two games for the Buffaloes while serving in his backup role. He recorded two rush attempts and one pass attempt.
The Opa Locka, Fla., native also received tribute from a fellow quarterback with the Buffaloes, Colton Allen.
Bethune-Cookman QB Dominiq Ponder takes a snap during the Wildcats’ spring game Saturday, April 22, 2023, at Daytona Stadium. (IMAGN)
“Dom, you were a blessing to so many people,” Allen wrote on Instagram. “You had a presence about you that just made everything better. You brought so much joy to me and everyone around you. I’m grateful for every lift, every practice, every rep, every conversation we got to share. I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.”
Ponder was going to be a part of Colorado’s spring practices, which are set to begin on Monday. It’s unknown if Sanders will postpone the start due to Ponder’s passing.
Ponder also received a tribute from the University of Central Florida.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Utah, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (Tyler Tate/AP Photo)
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“Our prayers are with Dominiq and the Ponder family along with all in the Colorado football program,” the university’s football account on X wrote.
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