CHICAGO - The Los Angeles Lakers remind me of a 2015 LeBron James movie.
Trainwreck.
But unlike that comedy flick, there are no funny one-liners here, just a terse tweet apology where the King promised Laker Nation that they would do better.
And sure enough, the embattled purple-and-gold franchise bounced back with a vengeance today and ended their three-game slide with a 101-95 home victory over Utah.
Holding off the Jazz was huge, therapeutic for the ailing Lakers, who are a mediocre 22-22 in the talent-laden Western conference.
But beating a skidding Jazz, who lost 6 of their last 10 assignments and shot the ball at just 36.9 percent (31-of-84) at the Crypto.com Arena, only helps little with the team's long-term prognosis.
The Lakers still don't look like a solid playoffs team. They only look like a solid play-in tournament team.
They are 24th in offensive rating at 108.7 and 17th in defensive rating at 110.1. The Lakers are also 27th, almost dead-last, in points allowed at 112.5 points per.
Three-point shooting had never been this team's strongest suit and that's showing again this season as the Lakers rank only 15th from long distance with a tepid 35 percent accuracy clip.
With Anthony Davis still recovering from an MCL sprain, the Lakers rebounding has fallen off a cliff, just 45,3 rebounds an outing and ranked 13th among 30 teams.
The league's worst-kept secret is that Russell Westbrook, who was acquired this past off-season, wasn't the ideal point guard for the Lakers coming in. The stats is proving that, too.
With Russ orchestrating - or perhaps sabotaging from a cynical point of view - the Lakers are 12th in assists, churning in a mere 24.3 dimes per.
Westbrook's numbers are shiny on paper - 18.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.9 assists per - but you don't have to be a basketball savant to understand that with his spotty shot selection, non-existent jumper, and porous defense, Russ is not the Thunder version of himself.
AND THOSE 4.3 TURNOVERS THAT HE COUGHS UP WITH ALARMING REGULARITY IS WHAT'S HELPING DIM THE LIGHTS ON THESE LAKERS.
On the heels of L.A.s 125-116 loss to the Kings last Thursday, coach Ryan Gregorio, a diehard, unrepentant Lakers fan, texted me how he "couldn't get over the Kings loss."
Ryan's sadness would only plummet in the abyss after the Nuggets used the Lakers to mop the Ball Arena floor on the way to a humiliating 37-point drubbing.
"Unbelievable guy. Trade him already," an effusive Gregorio said.
Unfortunately, Westbrook is there to stay.
At age 33, making $44.2 million this season and due to collect another $47 million next season, taking in that massive contract is the equivalent of salary-cap hara-kiri.
Which means the Lakers will likely be stuck at point guard mediocrity this season.
Which begs the question: Didn't the team see this coming?
Westbrook had never won anywhere. He hadn't necessarily hit it off with another All-Star.
Who was the genius who thought this experiment would actually work?
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph