Lakers keep putting the ‘L’ in L.A., losing their 10th in a row to tie franchise record
Hornets forward Tyler Hansbrough, left, and Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell battle for a rebound during the first half.
New low for the Lakers this season — an imperfect 10.
They tied the franchise record for consecutive losses when they fell to the Charlotte Hornets, 101-82, amid boos and groans Sunday night at Staples Center.
All that stands between them and infamy is Tuesday’s home game against Minnesota.
Kobe Bryant played fairly well and didn’t know or care about the record-tying loss.
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter. What, it makes a [expletive] season less [expletive]?” he said.
For now, these Lakers have company in misery among their rich past — the 1993-94 team also lost 10 in a row.
As slump-busters go, Bryant was filled with ideas.
He would have uncorked an 80-point game by now if he was much younger because “I just know my personality,” he said.
He added that the young Lakers needed to play with more toughness, and offered a unique way to ingrain it in them.
“The Navy SEALs have a way of taking guys to the bottom of the pool. Sometimes you’ve got to go to the bottom of the pool, man, and figure it out,” he said.
Perhaps it’s a good thing the therapeutic pool at the Lakers’ training facility is shallow.
Bryant wants the young ones to get better, despite the Draconian idea.
“I talked to them a little bit about the chippiness and the meanness. I can only lead them so far,” he said. “I’m not going to be here next year so for me to pull that out of them is just a waste and [then] I’m gone. I’m trying to get them to pull it out of themselves.”
There wasn’t much to pull from Sunday’s game except a lot of missed shots.
The boos began in earnest when the Hornets took an 18-point lead late in the third quarter. They intensified when Frank Kaminsky’s dunk made it a 20-point edge.
Not even a solid game from Bryant could help the Lakers (9-41). He scored 23 points on eight-for-18 shooting and added eight rebounds, his best game in more than three weeks.
Few Lakers besides Bryant could make a shot. Lou Williams missed nine of 10, Nick Young all six of his tries. Brandon Bass and Roy Hibbert were each 0 for 4.
“I think we’ve got a lot of guys in there right now with a lack of confidence,” Coach Byron Scott said. “Somehow we’ve got to try to rally together and get that back.”
Reserve forward Ryan Kelly bore the largest brunt of Lakers’ fans anger, missing six of nine shots.
“Ten straight [losses] now?” Kelly said. “I went through a stretch there where they were making a run and I was missing shots and I just got a few in a row. Got to make them.”
There was a hint of gallows humor when a “Went want Metta!” chant filtered through the building in the fourth quarter. Alas, there would be no World Peace. He and rookie Anthony Brown were the only Lakers not to play.
The news was bad for the home team before the game started. The Lakers might be “shutting down” rookie Larry Nance Jr. through the All-Star break because of a right knee issue, Scott said.
Nance showed nice mid-range touch and an impressive vertical leap before being sidelined four games in January because of the knee. He returned for three unremarkable games before sitting out Sunday.
Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist each had 19 points for Charlotte (23-25), which created substantial distance with a 37-point second quarter.
The 1993-94 Lakers were coached by Magic Johnson, who happened to be in attendance Sunday in a courtside seat. That team managed to win 33 games, an eternity of success compared to the modern-day calamity.
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