Locked on Lakers

The end is so close. So, so close. The Los Angeles Lakers finish their season on a back-to-back against the New Orleans Pelicans and Golden State Warriors and the finish line is within reach. Finally. We start the show by discussing what these last couple games represent in terms of the Lakers’ lottery hopes and whether we think Lakers fans should be rooting for wins. If the Suns somehow beat the Kings Tuesday night, Wednesday evening becomes just a little more interesting. Then, to follow up that conversation, we drafted dodgeball teams from the Lakers roster. This stemmed from a direction Luke Walton took the final practice that the prior coach would never have gone with if his very life depended on it. Oh, and Kobe Bryant in dodgeball is legitimately hilarious (and terrifying). Finally, we wrap this show with Harrison’s final hot take of the regular season. He is anti-rest. Very anti-rest.

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves on a crazy buzzer-beater from D’Angelo Russell Sunday, somehow their fourth win in a row and fifth in in their last ten games. The win streak has come at the worst possible time for the Lakers’ lottery odds, which would appear to be getting slimmer by the day. A lot of fans are upset that the team might be hurting their chance to get a top pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, so hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin talked about why the team’s current situation is okay on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers. Other topics included why Russell’s game-winner was so special, whether the Lakers or Timberwolves have a better young core and Anthony’s latest trip to Las Vegas.

Here we were, enjoying a nice Thursday afternoon having just recorded a perfectly fine show and getting ready to head into the weekend, then... The Los Angeles Lakers (though through no fault of their own) had different plans for the podcast. Lonzo Ball appeared on SportsNation earlier today and was asked about his preference leading up to the draft. His response was just about the clearest statement an incoming prospect can give on where he’d like to wind up. Before that, longtime Lakers assistant general manager Glen Carraro reportedly stepped down from his position, which in and of itself isn’t all that surprising. What’s interesting is what comes next from the front office. Both Harrison and I are hoping to see a little bit of creativity from an organization a little too willing to remain insular in its thinking. Speaking of Harrison, he took a look at David Nwaba’s schedule for the next week or so. He’s going to pretty busy, and we discuss about whether that’s a good thing considering all the research that has been done on the wear and tear of an NBA game. Lastly, as the season winds down, I gave Lakers fans something to watch for during award season.

So, the Los Angeles Lakers won a hard-fought game in San Antonio against the Spurs, which is usually plenty reason to celebrate, but it’s 2017 and winning isn’t always a good thing. As the game itself featured a career night for Tyler Ennis, there really wasn’t much to discuss. Fortunately, I enjoy my Twitter mentions to remain a perpetual dumpster fire and dared question anything about the Spurs. I simply asked if, in an entertainment industry, is it good for arguably the most consistently successful franchise to go out of its way to remain boring? This isn’t to say anything about their playing style, but about their off-court presence, or complete lack thereof. It’s for good reason they remain boring, but I think it’s fair to wonder if the NBA would prefer they, you know, entertained the notion of entertaining. To have this discussion, I brought on Matthew Tynan, who covers the Spurs and writes about the league as a whole for USA Today and RealGM. We originally had a back and forth on Twitter on the subject, and expanded on it in this show.

Kawhi Leonard is enjoying a season deserving of MVP praise. The San Antonio Spurs asked more of him than maybe some thought he was capable of, and he came through with flying colors. So, finding out his shooting coaches told him to learn a thing or two from Kobe Bryant should not be a surprise to anyone. No success in the NBA can take place without Kobe’s good grace. Them’s the rules. In all seriousness, I do find it interesting that for a guy so many line up to disparage for inefficiency or whatever else, an organization like the Spurs (who are lauded for basically being the anti-Kobe) would advise their guy learn from him. This conversation evolved into a larger discussion on how we look back on Kobe, including a very interesting hypothetical that might even put him into the good graces of some of his most ardent criticizers.

God bless the Orlando Magic. Heading into a Monday night in which the lone actual Lakers news was Jeanie Buss being voted into a lifetime position as controlling governor of the organization, suffice it so say Harrison and I were a little nervous about the amount of available content. Then, the basketball gods parted the clouds and down through the skies fell Whiteboardgate (name pending). Long story short, it seems somehow someone is interested in potentially acquiring Luol Deng. Yeah. It shocked us, too. Then, we started talking about Jeanie Buss and the podcast went to a place we could not possibly have seen coming. Just another one of my analogies, and it very nearly killed Harrison. Pun slightly intended. Finally, with the season winding down and tanking on everyone’s mind, we spent some time discussing whether it’s really that big a deal. I don’t think it is. Harrison disagrees. This was a fun show.

Yet again, the Los Angeles Lakers put their fan base in the precarious position having to go through the identity crisis that typically accompanies rooting against their favorite team. Beating a Memphis Grizzlies team even without Marc Gasol is a good win for the Lakers, especially as once again, the success came on the backs of their young core, but did it cost them the chance to add to that same young core? D’Angelo Russell played one of his better games of the year and had some interesting comments after the game, so we discuss that plus how important public relations is if he wants to continue to work towards being the face of the franchise. As I was out for most of the weekend, Harrison caught me up on everything I might’ve missed, including a pretty asinine take on this year’s rookie class. Turns out not playing in one’s rookie season is actually better for the narrative sounding them than making it through the season fully intact.

The Los Angeles Lakers have seven games remaining in their lost season, but the opportunity they have to try new things and evaluate their players shouldn’t be wasted. Bu what should the team be looking for, and what should they experiment with? With those questions in mind, host Harrison Faigen and guest Gary Kester of Silver Screen and Roll riffed back and forth to find the seven things they want to see from Los Angeles as they trudge towards the finish line. The two discussed that, as well as some things they want to see less of, on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers currently have the second-worst record in the NBA, but if the team’s first-round draft pick falls outside of the top-three, the team will have to send it to the Philadelphia 76ers. What will the Lakers’ response be should that darkest timeline come to pass, and just how long will the team continue to tank to improve its draft odds? Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin hopped on Facebook Live (this time with microphones for improved audio quality) to discuss those questions at length while answering other queries from listeners in the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.

The last couple episodes have looked at the Los Angeles Lakers in a broader sense, taking into account the goings on across the National Basketball Association. So, with Harrison coming back, there was plenty to catch up on. First and foremost, the Lakers played an entertaining game Tuesday night against John Wall and the Washington Wizards (while the Phoenix Suns fielded another famous Washington team). D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and most of anyone most fans care about played well enough to win and Tyler Ennis played enough to ensure the Lakers would maintain their position just above the Suns in the tank rankings. I spent most of the last two shows on a pretty simple message: Enjoy wins on the backs of the young core whenever you can, tanking be damned. That does kind of ignore how vital draft positioning is. Harrison and I discuss just that, with lottery odds and everything. Finally, we catch you up on all that’s gone on with the Buss family, and there is a lot to talk about there.

An odd thing happens anytime the Los Angeles Lakers win. Well it isn’t odd, so much as it is annoying, but still. Fans lose their minds when the Lakers fail to lose. Last Friday night, the Lakers played the Minnesota Timberwolves in a fun OT game that should have been enjoyable in a vacuum. And yet... It wasn’t. Here’s my stance on a game like that night: Fun games are fun. The Lakers are playing the right guys and if they happen to win in a fun game, yeah. A fun game should be fun. To talk about that game and the cores involved, I brought Patrick Fenelon on the show as Harrison continues his hiatus. We spent some time looking at the seasons both teams have had, their shared history and look ahead to what might be in store.

The Los Angeles Lakers spent their Sunday evening getting their tails whupped by the Portland Trail Blazers so talking about the game itself wasn’t really an option. To be completely honest, we basically forgot that game happened and have moved on the final nine games. So, with that in mind, the more interesting conversation — especially if we’re having it with a Blazers fan — is where this current “championship or bust” mentality came from and whether it can go away. I spoke to Dan Marang of Blazers Edge about that middle ground. For a long time now, that’s been considered the NBA’s purgatory, but after so many losing seasons in a row, I can’t help be feel a little curious about what rooting for a decent team might feel like. The conversation wanders, but the crux of it comes back to enjoying those small moments whenever you can, especially in seasons like the one the Lakers are putting us through right now.

The Los Angeles Lakers will give Shaquille O’Neal a well-deserved statue at Staples Center Friday, and with little actual news around the team to discuss, hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin decided to spend half an hour talking about the Big Aristotle. What were their favorite Shaq memories and their first impressions of Shaq? How would he have fared in the modern NBA, and what should his lasting legacy be now that he’s immortalized in bronze? Harrison and Anthony discussed all that and more on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.

A few weeks back, we discussed D’Angelo Russell as in-depth as just about anyone has to this point. Jordan Clarkson has become about as polarizing as anyone on the Los Angeles Lakers, so we decided to give him similar treatment. Greatness ensued. Or something. To start the show, we thought it was important to provide context based on where he’s come from. We’ve all heard about Clarkson’s underdog story having turned out really well (to the tune of $50 million), but there’s a lot more to discuss there. Then, we covered what his best case scenarios would be, whether on the Lakers or with another team. Is Clarkson destined to be a good-stats-bad-team type player? Could he be the sixth-man off the bench for a playoff contender? How much more could he improve given the fact he’s already 24 years old? If his destiny isn’t with the Lakers, what should the Lakers look to do with him? There’s a ton to discuss, and we got to just about all of it.

The Los Angeles Lakers were thoroughly destroyed by the L.A. Clippers in a 133-109 loss that was even less close than the score would indicate, leaving our podcast with very little on the court action to look at in the latest episode. So after wrapping up what little game action of consequence they had to discuss, host Harrison Faigen and guest co-host Bryant Freese took questions from listeners, including which Lakers’ young player is most promising and who D’Angelo Russell should attempt to work out with. All that and more on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.