The Washington Wizards ongoing struggles over recent years have put them in position to be the butt of nearly every joke.
Washington has been stuck in a constant state of mediocrity and with that comes the fact that when bad teams or players in the NBA are talked about, the Wizards tend to be the standard.
Throughout the team's rebuilding efforts, Washington has slowly but surely assembled a talented group of young prospects that have shown flashes that they're headed in the right direction as an organization.
Still, that progress has yet to take the Wizards out of nearly every joke and following the recent struggles of a future Hall of Famer, Washington once again found themselves taking a stray bullet in this recent take.
LeBron James wouldn't be top option on the Wizards?
There's no doubt that LeBron James has regressed just a bit in terms of production this season for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Averaging 20.5 points, 6.7 assists and 4.9 rebounds, while shooting 50.7% from field goal range and 31.7% from beyond the arc, James is in the midst of a career-low season, putting together lower averages than he boasted throughout his rookie campaign in 2003.
However, at 40-years-old, the fact that James is playing at this high of a level is a win in its own right and the fact that the four-time MVP winner is serving as the second-option for the first time in his career, while dealing with nagging injuries like sciatica, his numbers are more than understanding.
Nonetheless, for a player of LeBron's caliber, a down-year puts him at the hands of criticism for arguably the first time of his career and in turn, the Wizards find themselves once again being the standard and butt of the joke.
According to former NBA coach Sam Mitchell, LeBron James wouldn’t even be the first option on the Wizards:
“This is what LeBron doesn’t understand, it hasn’t sunk in," Mitchell said. "Whatever team you go to, you’re the 3rd option. You’re not going to a team when you’re the 1st option anymore. If you went to the Washington Wizards, you would still not be the number 1 option.”
In part, Mitchell is right, an abundance of the Lakers issues this season have been due to the lack of identity with a pair of alphas both looking to prove they're the leader.
While that may be true and James may not be the top option on several teams, it's hard to imagine he wouldn't even be the top guy on a squad like the Wizards and that's not to discredit any of the progress made by second-year player's Alex Sarr or Kyshawn George.