Craig Carton: LeBron James' Lakers Tenure Has Been an ' Outright Disaster'

The Los Angeles Lakers are down 3-0 to the Denver Nuggets and have generally looked outmatched and outclassed during this year's Western Conference Finals. The squad Rob Pelinka tried to rebuild on the fly has largely outperformed expectations but the wizardry of Nikola Jokic and the human flamethrower that is Jamal Murray is proving too much. To most, there is no real shame in that; the Nuggets are really freaking good and the Lakers looked like a lottery team as recently as January. To make it this far is an accomplishment when looking at the big picture for this version of Los Angeles.

Such nuance does not make for engaging television, however. Look no further for an example than Craig Carton this morning, who (unsurprisingly) subscribes to the idea that the Lakers' bubble championship doesn't count and thus declared LeBron James' Lakers tenure an "outright disaster" as he heads towards another early playoff exit.

About what you would expect from a former New York City shock jockey. Hating on LeBron and the Lakers is a well that never runs dry even if the medium changes.

I am of the mind that this opinion can be disproven by asking any Lakers fan, who will remember that the team was really bad for, like, five years before LeBron came to town. The Lonzo Ball/Julius Randle years were the real outright disasters.

Besides, a banner is a banner no matter what Carton or others are going to argue. The bubble championship does, in fact, count and that makes LeBron's Lakers tenure a success by any definition whether you like it or not.