"LeBron's false-positive COVID test had nothing to do with the loss” - Shannon Sharpe claims LA Lakers’ issues go beyond LeBron James’ battle with Coronavirus

The Los Angeles Lakers continue to find themselves in the middle of a roller coaster of inconsistent play throughout the opening months of the 2021-22 NBA season. The team is currently 8th in the Western Conference Standings with an overall record of 12-12 this year. Injuries have played a major role in the slow start for the Lakers as they've been without a number of key rotation pieces, including superstar forward LeBron James.

Things could have been much worse for the Los Angeles Lakers, especially after LeBron James tested positive and was forced to enter the NBA's health and safety protocols. NBA players can usually miss up to 10 days once they test positive for COVID-19, but it was recently announced that LeBron would return to the court after missing one game due to a false positive test. Unfortunately for LeBron and the Lakers, his return didn't result in an immediate win on the basketball court. When speaking today on Undisputed, analyst Shannon Sharpe raised the point that the Los Angeles Lakers' problems go much further than the recent drama surrounding the false COVID test.

"LeBron's false-positive COVID test had nothing to do with the loss. It's because they don't play defense, Bron didn't play well and they missed FTs. They'll continue to lose unless they fix it."

Sharpe continues to talk about the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers have simply not been doing the necessary things in order to win, especially towards the end of games. One of the areas that Sharpe highlights is the Los Angeles Lakers' continued struggles from the free-throw line.

"Until they start playing better defense...until they start making their free throws, they are going to stay in this position...they are not a good basketball team."

As of right now, the Lakers team are shooting a combined 73.5% from the line. That currently ranks them 27th out of 30 teams in the league. It's a big deal for a team like the Lakers, who continue to find themselves in so many close games down the stretch. As a team they have struggled with their defensive consistency as well, but problems at the free throw line are just inexcusable for a squad that is trying to get back on the right track.

While it's been a tough opening couple of months for the Los Angeles Lakers, there's still plenty of time for the team to get back in a groove. The team is preparing to face the Boston Celtics tomorrow before an upcoming slate of favorable matchups that feature the Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic. From there, things will get challenging for LeBron James and the Lakers as they have future matchups against the Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets. If the Lakers want to try to climb up the standings in the Western Conference, they are going to need to start playing better defense and improving their percentages from the charity stripe.