Locked on Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are riding a three-game winning streak after extinguishing the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night, and their run of success begs the question: Is this level of play sustainable? Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin discussed why the Lakers’ play seems to be a consistently repeatable on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers. Additionally, they broke down why Julius Randle has exceeded all expectations, Anthony ate some crow for not believing in Randle, Harrison gave his latest hot take, and the two endorsed Luke Walton as a 2020 presidential candidate.

The Lakers are off to a better start than we might’ve predicted, so the question bears asking: At what point should we rethink where this team might end up? We bring in Pete Zayas (@LakerFilmRoom) to discuss why our optimism is warranted. Even while the Lakers are producing offensively, Anthony and Pete explain how they could very easily — and very quickly — improve. So, if they’re already performing well, and can get better on both sides of the court, what might they be capable of? Finally, Lou Williams has made Anthony eat a healthy serving of crow. What has gone into his success and how might Luke Walton be behind it?

The Los Angeles Lakers were back in action on Wednesday night against the Atlanta Hawks in the second night of their first back-to-back of the year. The team broke their three-game losing streak, and Ivica Zubac looked pretty good in first start in place of the injured Timofey Mozgov, but the major story of the night was D’Angelo Russell’s first big game of the year. Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin discussed all that and more in the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost their third consecutive game on Tuesday night when they played against the Indiana Pacers, bringing their record to 1-3 on the season. The team once again tried to overcome a relatively sluggish start by fighting hard down the stretch, but ultimately couldn’t stop Paul George as the Pacers closed out down the stretch. Despite the result, hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin thought the game was another promising sign for the Lakers, who continue to compete and play respectably in these losses. The two discussed what they saw from the team, why Ivica Zubac isn’t playing more, Kobe Bryant’s “funeral,” and Anthony dunking on his dog in the latest episode of Locked on Lakers:

The Los Angeles Lakers are gearing up for their first road back-to-back set of the season, but the comments that have everyone talking are decidedly more ghoulish. Veteran forward Metta World Peace spoke to the media about being touched innapropriately by ghosts, so hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin tried to figure out if there was a better chance of that story being real, or the Lakers making the playoffs. Later in the show, Harrison tries to trick Anthony with fake Metta quotes, gives his latest hot takes, and the guys react to their listeners iTunes review hot takes as well. Finally, Harrison and Anthony previewed the Lakers’ Tuesday matchup with the Indiana Pacers on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers (now with a new, spooky intro song).

Locked on Lakers brings you not one, but two guests for their Monday episode this week. First, host Harrison Faigen went up to Los Angeles to discuss the Lakers’ young core and Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game with Jalen Rose at a promotional event for his partnership with Cricket Wireless’ “Bucket List” promotion (which goes live on November 2nd). Later, because there was basketball played on Sunday, Harrison and Anthony Irwin were joined by Fred Katz of the Norman Transcript and Locked on Thunder. The three chatted about Russell Westbrook’s unbelievable start to the season, why Fred is high on D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle, and how he explained what a podcast is to Enes Kanter on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.

Over the last couple Lakers seasons, a great game was almost bittersweet. Sure, in the moment, fans could cheer about that particular experience but still have that annoying thought in the back of their minds that their excitement would probably be short-lived. Darius Soriano of Forum Blue & Gold joined Anthony to talk about how this year, it’s different. Just as these young Lakers have to unlearn bad habits, we as fans get to unlearn the aforementioned daunting thoughts that used to follow positivity. Then, in a rapid fire segment of sorts, Anthony presented Darius with a few insomnia-driven expectations and the two discussed how realistic they might be. Could D’Angelo Russell get All Star buzz? Why should fans dismiss scoring expectations from Brandon Ingram? Listen and find out.

The long wait is over. The Los Angeles Lakers kicked off the regular season against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night, meaning we finally got a real look at the team we’ve been waiting all summer for a glimpse of. How did D’Angelo Russell look to start his sophomore campaign? Is it time to declare Timofey Mozgov the best Lakers big man of all time yet? To discuss all that and more, hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin called up Pete Zayas of Laker Film Room to break down the game for the latest episode of Locked on Lakers:

The Los Angeles Lakers will kick off their season against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. The wait is over, and basketball is finally back. How many games will the Lakers win? Do they have any chance to make more noise than people think in the Western Conference? Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin gave their thoughts on all of those odds and more in the latest episode of Locked on Lakers. Also discussed: the death of Anthony’s chances to play professionally in Europe, Kobe Bryant’s MVP odds (or lack thereof), and what odds the two would have to be given to bet on the Lakers to win the title.

The Los Angeles Lakers made a surprising choice for their final roster cut of the preseason on Monday, opting to cut Anthony Brown instead of Metta World Peace or Thomas Robinson in order to trim their roster down to the league mandated maximum of 15 players. Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin tried to figure out why the team might have made the decision to move on from the second round pick in his sophomore season, and made the case for why the team might have felt Robinson and World Peace were more valuable in the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.

As much as the battle for a team’s fifteenth roster spot can generate buzz, Yi Jianlian’s surprising decision to reportedly ask the Los Angeles Lakers to release him from their roster made waves late on Sunday night. To discuss what the move means for Thomas Robinson and Metta World Peace’s chances of making the roster, and the team’s makeup moving forward, hosts Anthony Irwin and Harrison Faigen were joined by Gary Kester from Silver Screen and Roll in the latest episode of Locked on Lakers. Also in today’s episode: Harrison and Anthony have a show-long battle to see who can make the worst Yi pun, Harrison gives his latest #HarrisonsHotTake, and the guys announce how viewers can get in on the takes as well.

The Lakers lost to the Suns Friday night. Anthony reacts to the game with topics including: Brandon Ingram's ups and downs, Nick Young playing hard despite a poor shooting night and more. Then, as it's become such a hot topic, Anthony summarized the cases for either Thomas Robinson or Yi Jianlian remaining on the team. Basketball versus business.

There are tons of positive vibes surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers right now, but the elephant in the room is Jim Buss' self-imposed deadline to return the team to contention. Steve Delsohn of Outside the Lines put together a report for ESPN's "Outside the Lines" on the "turmoil at the top" of the Lakers organization, and he joined hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin to discuss his takeaways from his interview with Jeanie Buss and numerous former members of the Lakers organization. Does the Lakers front office have communication issues? Will Jeanie step in to remove her brother if the team doesn't start to show more tangible signs of progress? We discussed all that and more on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers traveled to San Diego to face the Golden State Warriors in their second-to-last preseason game. Los Angeles’ young core isn’t quite ready to measure up to the consensus championship favorite just yet, but hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin will be live right after the game to break down D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram, and the rest of the team’s continuing growth process in their lone trip to San Diego, as well as the rest of the latest news and happenings around the Lakers today.

With Harrison (dangerously inflated ego) out today, Anthony welcomed a couple of his absolute favorites: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN Los Angeles and ESPN 710 radio. Good times ensued. The show starts with a lengthy conversation about D’Angelo Russell. We know he will make strides in his second season, but how far has he come? Then, the guys spoke about Jordan Clarkson and his fit either off the bench or with the starters. Finally, they covered Julius Randle, Larry Nance, Jr., and Brandon Ingram. The consensus: The Lakers are in a great place to continue this rebuild. Once the young core was covered, they discussed realistic expectations for this season and threw some more shade at Harrison for being Harrison missing the show.