Lakers Lounge

The Lakers beat the crap out of the Kings. Yeah, the Kings are going to suck, but the Lakers approached this game a lot more seriously than in years past. There's value in noting that.

Adou Thiero. Cam Carr. Bronny James. Anthony went into last night with high hopes from that group and was pleased to see those expectations met. He discusses that, wing by committee and wraps with some questions from the live audience.

Lakers basketball is finally here (kind of). Anthony previews the preseason slate with expectations on either side of the ball, the spots in the rotation guys will be competing for, players at the end of the bench he's actually excited to watch and more.

Anthony opens with a couple segments he thought up on the fly because of some late arriving questions, but we finally arrived at a fun episode nonetheless.

A friend of the show just won't stop pissing off the internet so Anthony finally chimes in on the subject.

The audience was apparently running a little late but brought the heat nonetheless.

Anthony once again steers the conversation towards Raj's nerdiness. The effort nearly ended him, so please listen.

Normally, the identity on either side of the ball would be seen as a secret of the utmost protection. This training camp, JJ Redick has been very open about the kind of basketball he wants the Lakers to play. Anthony thinks this is a sign of confidence, and explains such to Raj.

JJ Redick says he's been splitting up Luka and Austin whenever he can in practices. Anthony gives an explanation for doing so only he would identify.

Anthony has spent this entire offseason crapping on the Lakers as a defensive unit. All the Lakers keep saying is how good they'll be on that side of the ball, making Anthony wonder if he's read this situation wrong all along. So he asks Raj about that possibility.

Anthony rolls through what Rob Pelinka can do to bring the Lakers to 15 guaranteed contracts before the season, what he thinks is likeliest and some of the options he'd most prefer.

A LOT going on in this episode. A lot. Just.... buckle up.

Anthony rolls through some stories coming out of camp, where Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams have apparently been standing out. From there, he discusses the Lakers continuing to speak highly of the defense they're going to play. He wraps by discussing JJ Redick apparently not joking at his presser when he said he'd been splitting up Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves to help plan for staggering th...

Anthony looks back on D'Angelo Russell's career as it appears to be winding down. Given how quickly he was able to get through today's headlines, he spends a little time talking about Buddy Hield, which leads to a really fun question from the live chat.

Anthony and Harrison look back on their predictions for media day and compare what they actually heard with their bingo cards. JJ Redick offered his first vague injury report of the year, so the guys have a little fun with that. They discuss Redick's meritocracy comments and explain why they think they're valid.

JJ Redick said two players were somewhat limited in the first day of training camp. Anthony makes a couple jokes about it and the guys do some digging to find out if the jokes were true.

Anthony continues rolling through his and Harrison's predictions for media day, this time regarding Kevon's Looney's role with the team and the reports they expect to hear about him from training camp. Anthony also offers up what he's heard about Allie Clifton's role with Spectrum this year.

Here's the thing: There honestly isn't a such thing as a pure meritocracy at this point. So with that in mind, do you believe JJ Redick when he says minutes will go to those who earn them? Anthony makes the case for this specific team.

Anthony enjoyed what he heard from the Lakers at their media day. He laughed really hard at some of the other teams out there as well.

Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick sent a pretty clear message at their presser last week that the Lakers followed up with at media day Monday afternoon. Anthony breaks it all down and explains why it matters.

Anthony explains what he'll be watching for in this first week of training camp, then runs through his favorite moments from the Lakers, Clippers and Sixers training camps. He wraps with a question from the live audience.

Absolutely loaded episode from Anthony and Pete today, as the guys are staring directly at media day, training camp and preseason games. They take a quick look back at JJ Redick and Rob Pelinka's presser, discuss Luka and Austin as team leaders and discuss what they're hoping to see as camp gets started.

Anthony tells a joke that Pete absolutely ejects from. Point is: Both guys noticed how much lighter the vibes were from Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick. They give their thoughts on why.

Anthony and Pete noted Lakers leadership pointing out how vocal Austin Reaves has been but also discussed how, defensively, the player who absolutely needs to fill the void will be Walker Kessler.

Anthony walked away from Rob Pelinka's presser thinking he was tempering expectations. Pete thought he was welcoming them. The guys discuss either end of the spectrum, reality residing somewhere in the middle and their own definitions of success for this Lakers team. They also spend some time honoring Lawrence Tanter together.