The Los Angeles Lakers have lost three straight games to fall back to .500 on the year. Though they have not even hit the halfway point in their season, you could make the argument that the Lakers have mathematically eliminated themselves from championship contention.

The Lakers are now 16-16 following their blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night. That is not good news for LeBron James and company. According to Elias Sports Bureau, no NBA champion has ever been .500 or worse more than 20 games into the regular season.