The 2022-23 NBA season has only just begun, yet it feels like the Lakers are already drowning.
After Wednesday night's loss in Denver, Los Angeles (0-4) is one of only three teams without a win, joining Orlando (0-5) and Sacramento (0-3). Russell Westbrook sat out the latest defeat because of a hamstring injury, showing that the Lakers' issues go well beyond the former MVP.
"We're four games in. It sucks to lose, but having 78 games left, there's plenty of time for us to right the ship, and it starts now," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said during his postgame media availability. "It starts yesterday."
Ham may still be expressing optimism, but the numbers so far tell a story of doom and gloom in Laker Land.
MORE: How can the Lakers fix their shooting woes?
Four stats on Lakers' 0-4 start to 2022-23 season
1) LeBron James hasn't been in this position for a long time. This is the first time a James-led team has started 0-4 since his rookie year with the Cavaliers. Cleveland lost its first five games of the 2003-04 season, finishing 35-47 and missing the 2004 NBA Playoffs.
2) The Lakers have started the season 0-4 for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign. That Los Angeles team lost 17 of its first 20 games and ultimately landed at the bottom of the Western Conference standings with a 17-65 record.
3) The Lakers aren't just the worst 3-point shooting team in the league at this early stage of the season. They are historically bad.
Los Angeles is shooting 22.3 percent from beyond the arc, the worst mark over any four-game span by any team with a minimum of 125 3-point attempts.
"Well, I think we were shooting 20 percent, and today we shot 26 percent," Los Angeles guard Patrick Beverley said after the loss in Denver. "So, we got better."
| Player | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% |
| LeBron James | 2.3 | 8.8 | 25.7 |
| Lonnie Walker IV | 1.0 | 5.8 | 17.4 |
| Kendrick Nunn | 1.0 | 4.3 | 23.5 |
| Russell Westbrook | 0.3 | 4.0 | 8.3 |
| Patrick Beverley | 0.8 | 4.0 | 18.8 |
| Anthony Davis | 0.5 | 2.8 | 18.2 |
| Matt Ryan | 1.3 | 2.7 | 50.0 |
| Austin Reaves | 1.0 | 2.5 | 40.0 |
| Troy Brown Jr. | 0.0 | 2.5 | 0.0 |
| Juan Toscano-Anderson | 0.3 | 2.0 | 12.5 |
4) And here's the most important number for Lakers fans: No team has ever won the NBA championship after starting a season with four straight losses. Los Angeles has some serious work to do if it plans on breaking a tie with Boston for the most titles in league history.
