3 Lakers who need this off week the most

The workaholic culture in America may not be as bad as it once was, but even though we know more about the positive effects of rest and relaxation on the human body than ever before, there are still people out there killing themselves to make ends meet.

The players on the Los Angeles Lakers may have no problem paying their bills, but some of them have still been overworked, and it's begun to show on the court. L.A. has lost three of its last four and seven of its last 10 after getting off to a 10-4 start, which has resulted in a precipitous drop down the Western Conference standings.

At this time last season, the Lakers were hitting their stride. They blitzed through the In-Season Tournament (now known as the NBA Cup), going undefeated to take home the inaugural title. LeBron James was named MVP of the tournament to further add to his enormous legacy, and Anthony Davis stole the show in the championship game with a ridiculous 40-21-5-4 line to beat the Indiana Pacers.

Flash forward to present day, and the Lakers look broken, both mentally and physically. The team has been getting blown out with alarming regularity, and the All-NBA level of play that fans have come to expect from LeBron and AD has been nowhere near as omnipresent as it usually is.

The Lakers finished 2-2 in the NBA Cup's group play stage, which resulted in their elimination from the tournament. It might seem like a shame that the purple and gold won't get the chance to defend their title, but the way things have looked lately, this break couldn't come at a better time.

Just as an NFL team gets to recharge during its bye week, the Lakers can use these next few days to rest up and remember who they are. Here are three players that stand to benefit the most.

Like Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, LeBron James is getting too old for this

LeBron James came into the season talking about playing all 82 games. For any other 39-year-old player, that would seem absurd, but for someone that has been rewriting the record book for years, we've come to expect the impossible.

In recent weeks, it's become clear that LeBron was going to have to give up on his dream of not missing a game, because his play has tailed off in a big way. Since taking over primary ball-handling duties for the first unit, his turnovers have become a real problem, and his outside shooting has severely regressed.

LeBron was lights out from beyond the arc to start the season, but tired legs have cratered his percentage, which is now under 36 after a recent 0-19 stretch.

Friday's game against the Hawks showed that LeBron wasn't willing to go down without a fight, and his 6-11 performance from outside was nearly enough to help the Lakers prevail in double overtime. The 43 minutes he played in that game, though, a season high, proved to be too much, and he sat out two days later against the Blazers with what the team called a foot injury.

LeBron needs this little break more than anyone, not only to refresh his tired body, but because as one of the smartest players in the game, a few days removed from the court could give him the chance to take a step back and strategize. The Lakers haven't been good lately, and though it ultimately falls to new head coach JJ Redick to steer the ship, we all know that LeBron has always had a big hand in that.

Austin Reaves has been out for over 10 days, and the Lakers badly need him back

The Lakers go as LeBron and Anthony Davis go, but their next-most important player is almost certainly Austin Reaves. The fourth-year shooting guard, like many of his teammates, isn't much of a defender, but his playmaking abilities and shooting stroke help keep the Lakers offense from becoming just the LBJ + AD Show.

Reaves has missed the last five games with a pelvic contusion, which doesn't sound fun for anybody. Not coincidentally, the Lakers went 2-3 in those games while being outscored by 62 points, and two of those losses were blowouts which featured L.A.'s lowest scoring output of the season (80 points at the Timberwolves and 93 points at the Heat two nights later).

LeBron and Davis rightly get most of the attention, but the Lakers offense needs Reaves healthy to run at peak efficiency. He's third on the team in scoring and third in assists, and in the ongoing injury-related absences of Jarred Vanderbilt and Jaxson Hayes, the Lakers are thin enough as it is.

Anthony Davis and his back need a rest after carrying this team all season

If there's anyone that has earned a rest on this Lakers roster, it's Anthony Davis, because the Brow has been the engine that makes this team go all year. JJ Redick smartly designed his offense around the many talents of his veteran big man, and until recently, that plan has worked pretty flawlessly.

Davis is carrying the Lakers on both ends of the court. On offense, he's seventh in the NBA with 27.5 points per game while shooting the second-most free throws in the league, and on defense, he's the only Lakers regular that's capable of holding up his end of the bargain.

Davis has had a lot on his plate this season, and it's beginning to show. After scoring 21 points or more in the first 14 games of the year (carrying the Lakers to that 10-4 record we mentioned earlier), he scored under 20 in five of his next seven. Davis put up back-to-back clunkers against the Wolves and Heat, scoring 12 and 8 respectively, and even moreso than Reaves' absence in those games, that's the reason the Lakers lost so badly.

The Lakers need Davis to be Superman, but his recent swoon shows that he could use a little time in the Fortress of Solitude to get back to full strength. AD scored 36 against the Wolves and Rudy Gobert in the season opener, then only 12 last week. Expect him to come out swinging with a few days of rest under his belt when the Lakers travel to the Target Center on Friday.