That’s the opinion of Lakers legend James Worthy.
Despite LeBron James’ triple double of 28 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds, the Lakers crashed to a sorry 117-113 loss to the Hawks – who were 18-38 ahead of Los Angeles’ visit to Atlanta.
That sees the Lakers enter the All-Star break with a 28-29 record and their playoff hopes under serious scrutiny.
It was thought LeBron’s presence at Staples Center meant the Lakers’ five-year post-season drought would inevitably come to an end but his 17-game absence due to injury and Anthony Davis trade rumours have proven harmful to L.A.
Luke Walton’s team have gone 10-20 since Christmas Day when LeBron got hurt, having then been fourth in the Western Conference.
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Now 10th in the standings, the Lakers are looking at the real possibility of missing out on the playoffs despite LeBron having gone to the post-season in all of his last 14 years in the league.
And Worthy – who won three championships with the Showtime Lakers in the 1980s – feels there is something deeply wrong within the current roster.
He told Spectrum SportsNet: “It stinks, pretty bad. It sucks when you let a virus settle into your team and you can’t get rid of it.
“It should be something they can easily get rid of. The win in Boston, I thought maybe they had recovered.
“But to come into Atlanta and have that type of performance kind of lets me know that there’s something disconnected right now with this team.
“I don’t know what it is. We know they’re better.
“To not be able to score in the fourth quarter, forget the stats – the body language was just dead.
“It was a meaningless effort. It seemed like they were just out there trying to get something done.
“It didn’t seem connected to me and that there was a sense of urgency going on when there needed to be.
“They’ve got a little virus going on with this team.
“They need to figure out how to get well so they can play better than they did in Atlanta. That was an embarrassing loss before the break.”
The Lakers’ latest disappointment is bound to stir more uncertainty around the security of head coach Walton’s future, with fans having called for the front office to fire the 38-year-old for some time already.