At the start of the season, the low blow Lakers legend Shaquille O'Neal gives to the team

The Los Angeles Lakers weren't able to meet the high expectations that the work by GM Rob Pelinka pulled off in the offseason including betting on continuity by bringing back the core of the team that made it to the Western Conference Finals.

The team has a losing record after 9 games, but the fans are still hoping the group just had a slow start that included several players being out due to injuries.

Before the season even started, the Lakers legend Shaquille O'Neal didn't believe in the team and picked the Dallas Mavericks instead of the purple and gold to win it all in the 2023-24 campaign.

Shaq doesn't believe the Lakers will be able to win this season's WCF if they can make it, and so far, the start that LA has had could be giving the reason to the legendary big man.

The Lakers are still developing chemistry in the season

The team started training camp with the full roster healthy, but the team hasn't been able to develop chemistry as fast as they would like with the many injury absences they have had this early in the campaign.