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James Worthy has seen his fair share of Los Angeles Lakers losses throughout his lifetime. During his 12-year career in LA, the Hall of Famer suffered 328 regular season losses himself, and he’s watched hundreds more since retiring from the NBA in 1994.

But the Lakers‘ embarrassing defeat at the hands of the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night was admittedly the “worst loss” Worthy has ever seen, and he didn’t hold back with his merciless postgame comments.

Lakers blow 26-point lead in embarrassing loss to Thunder

Wednesday night’s tilt against the Thunder should’ve been a stress-free win for the Lakers. It was shaping up that way early, as LA took a dominating 41-19 lead after the first quarter and went up by 26 points at one point.

The Lakers took a 16-point lead into the halftime locker room, but it all went downhill from there.

Without LeBron James in the lineup, LA got outscored 41-23 in the third quarter. The Lakers couldn’t rebound from their collapse down the stretch, and they went on to lose, 123-115.

It was a humiliating loss against the youngest and possibly the worst team in the NBA, and Worthy didn’t mince words with his postgame thoughts on the game.

James Worthy eviscerates the Lakers for the “worst loss” he’s ever seen

After watching the Lakers collapse in Oklahoma City on Wednesday night, Worthy went on a passionate rant on Sportsnet Live bashing his former team for its performance.

“I’ve seen a lot of Lakers losses. This might be the worst loss I’ve seen,” Worthy said.

“You have to finish the job, regardless of who you’re playing. You cannot disrespect the worst team in the league. In fact, you make sure you put them away and let them know that they don’t have a chance. I think the Lakers came out with that mentality, but I don’t know what happened. They kinda just disrespected these young guys.”

That’s exactly what happened. The Lakers took their foot off the gas pedal and didn’t expect the Thunder to keep fighting, but you can’t get complacent in the NBA no matter who you’re playing.

I’d put them on a Greyhound and let them drive back to LA and think about it. You cannot perform like that. You can’t be a Laker and play like they did tonight.

James Worthy

Tell us how you really feel, James.

Worthy not confident the Lakers can rebound from this loss

We’re only five games into the new season, and the Lakers still need time to gel with their completely revamped roster, but Worthy didn’t sound confident that the team can iron out their issues anytime soon.

“I know it’s early in the season. People say they’re gonna get it together, but this wasn’t one of those games,” he said. “They should have won this game, and the disrespect that they showed for Oklahoma by not being professional and finishing the job, it’s not Lakers style. They gotta figure it out.”

LeBron‘s return to the court should help matters, but these Lakers need to learn how to bury inferior teams if they want to compete for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

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Staff Writer

Jack Dougherty

Writing professionally since 2015, Jack Dougherty spent six years as a sportswriter with publications such as GoPSUSports.com, the Centre Daily Times, and the Associated Press before joining Sportscasting in 2020. He covers the NBA, the NFL, and the world of golf extensively and has added expertise on any team located in or around his hometown of Philadelphia. Yes, that includes the Philadelphia Eagles, the Philadelphia 76ers, and Philadelphia Phillies.

When Jack isn’t writing about sports, he’s watching them or playing them as he regularly heads to the gym for some pickup basketball or the golf course to hit the links. He’s also an avid participant in the sports betting scene who worked at a casino sportsbook for a year and learned the ins and outs of the industry before bringing his expertise to Sportscasting with one excellent gambling recommendation after another.