LeBron James moved to the Lakers last summer following months of trade speculation about where he would go.
He was linked with moves to the Houston Rockets and the Philadelphia 76ers, but the Lakers landed his signature.
But since then, and despite a good start to the season, things haven’t gone according to plan.
The Lakers sit 10th in the Western Conference with a record of 29-30 and are in danger of missing out on the playoffs.
And Cowherd, who spoke on his show The Herd, believes he knows why it hasn’t worked out.
“This is why the Lakers LeBron thing hasn’t worked out,” he said..
“He’s never bought into it, this roster isn’t guys he would really connect with.
“They have young guys he doesn’t really respect yet, and old knuckle heads who are on one-year contracts that he can’t relate to.
“He bought into Cleveland and Miami for the years he was there.
“He doesn’t have any close friends in the team.
“There’s no juice or energy with the Lakers, I thought this would feel big and it doesn’t.
“LeBron looks around and is wondering about his team-mates and the coach.
“There’s been zero consistency this year, when LeBron talks you can feel that he hasn’t bought into it.
“He hasn’t bought into the young guys, hasn’t bought into Luke Walton, he hasn’t bought into Lance [Stephenson].”
If the Lakers don’t make the playoffs, it would be the first time James has failed to partake in post-season basketball since 2005.
He’s since made it to eight straight NBA finals, winning three of them.