Rick Fox to Lakers -- Pray for the Lottery ... Playoffs Are Out of the Question

The Lakers playoff hopes are dead ... so says Rick Fox, who tells TMZ Sports his old team should start praying for the #1 pick in next year's NBA draft.

The 3x NBA champ was hiding under his hood outside LAX yesterday ... when we asked him what he thinks the 14-23 Lakers have a snowball's chance in hell of making the post-season.