![Victorious moments for Lakers team members Julius Randle, left, and Kobe Bryant, right, have been rather scarce this season. [SB Nation/Harrison Faigen]](http://www.jstudentboard.com/reporter/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LA-lakers.jpg)
It is the 2015-2016 season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Fans in L.A. have been excited since Day One of the season, because of names such as Kobe Bryant, D’Angelo Russell, and Julius Randle. While fans are eager to see Kobe Bryant playing in his record-breaking 20th season in the NBA, they are also enthusiastic to see D’Angelo Russell, the Lakers’ lottery pick from the 2015 NBA draft. D’Angelo Russell was one of the top point-guards in the 2014-2015 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) season. The Lakers were in need of a talented, young player in the point-guard position, and Russell seems to be a great match.
Julius Randle was also a Lakers’ lottery pick back in 2014. He is coming off of a fractured tibia injury that he received in the first game of the 2014-2015 college season. Randle was one of the best power-forwards during his time in the NCAA. Since he got injured in the first game of the 2014-2015 season and was ruled out for the entire season, Laker fans have been waiting very patiently to see what Randle can do, and if he was worth the lottery pick. In the off-season, the Lakers acquired two-time NBA-All-Star Roy Hibbert from the Indiana Pacers; 2014-2015 Sixth Man of the Year, Louis Williams from the Toronto Raptors; and power forward Brandon Bass from the Boston Celtics. Besides acquiring D’Angelo Russell with the second pick in the 2015 NBA draft, the Lakers had the 27th and 34th picks in the second round of the NBA draft. They used the 27th pick on Larry Nance Jr. from University of Wyoming and the 34th pick on Anthony Brown from Stanford University.
Ever since Day One of the new season, the Lakers haven’t been showing signs of change. The Lakers started the new season with a 9-31 record, one of the worst starts in Laker history. The head coach of the Lakers, Byron Scott, has not effected much change in the team, which he promised a season ago. Scott promised a much-better defensive team when he accepted the head coach position in 2013. At that time, he stated to the media, “We have a bunch of work to do, but our goal is to be a Top-15 defensive team.”
Fans in Los Angeles–such as Jake Kanan, a twelfth-grader at Palisades Charter High School in Los Angeles–expressed opinions about the Lakers. “This is isn’t what I expected this season, but I guess this is what you get for being a Laker fan.”
Lakers fans have been disappointed in previous seasons, as reflected in Kanan’s comment. Kanan seems to be expressing that he somehow expected this outcome, even though fans were told to expect improvement this season. Lakers fans have been waiting for a change, but according to the current pace of the team’s performance, they will have to be even more patient.
