Lakers Lounge

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.

The Lakers season unofficially kicked off with Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick holding their annual joint-presser. Anthony noticed some very different vibes and offered one potential explanation after LeBron James' departure. Redick was very open about his hopes for this group and the identity he's expecting. Anthony also spends a segment memorializing Lawrence Tanter following his passing and wraps wit...

Anthony starts his press conference breakdown by discussing how different the vibes were for this one than in years past. He also tackles a couple of what he thought were the most noteworthy moments from Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick's time on stage.

Anthony wraps up his conversation on why vibes matter, then spends some time memorializing Lawrence Tanter, a true Lakers legend. From there, he answers questions from the live audience, one of which discussing Rob Pelinka very clearly backing off his "title or bust" mantra.

You know we're nearing the season when out of nowhere an episode has this much stuff to talk about. Anthony starts by discussing the Lakers broadcast and how different it will sound next year. He then previews JJ Redick and Rob Pelinka's joint presser and some of the questions he's hoping they'll have to answer. Lonzo Ball made some news that Anthony broke down, too, then he wraps the episode with...

Anthony runs through the various ways Lakers games are going to look and sound different, now that his reporting has been officially confirmed. He gives his thoughts on the changes, some of which he understands, others, less so.

Anthony offers up what he'll be watching for when JJ Redick and Rob Pelinka take the stage Thursday afternoon. He then discusses the funny series of events that had Lonzo Ball clarifying whether or not he's retired. He wraps with a quick Q&A.

Anthony and Harrison realize we're less than a week from Lakers media day. So, after running through a quick hypothetical on how else the Lakers could've handled the center position, they play one of their favorite annual games. From there, Harrison has a series of questions for Anthony he fielded from the SB Nation app.

Anthony asks Harrison a hypothetical question given how things have gone between the Pistons and Jalen Duren. Would the Lakers have been better off trying to play this situation to their own benefit? From there, the guys partake in one of their favorite annual traditions: Media Day Bingo.

Anthony and Harrison round out their predictions for stories coming from media day and then dive into a set of questions Harrison has for Anthony from the SB Nation app, including one about where JJ Redick already ranks among Lakers coaches all time.

Anthony responds to a particularly annoyed audience taking issue with his critique of the depth on the Lakers roster compared to last season. From there, he dives into the mailbag to answer a very wide assortment of questions.

After hearing all the complaints and criticism of his take that the Lakers aren't as deep now as they were last year, Anthony... says screw it and stands on business.

Anthony dives into the mailbag, where a listener has a very weird (and frankly impossible) request.

Poor Raj has had to talk about all kinds of things over the course of this summer that don't feature x's and o's, so Anthony, out of the goodness of his heart, gets out of the way and lets Raj run through all his nerdiest talking points about this Lakers team.

Anthony tells a story about music for him growing up. Then, he and Raj disagree about who they think should be the Lakers' fifth starter when training camp opens in a couple weeks.

Anthony has put Raj through the ringer this summer with all the sale drama, so as a reward, Raj got to just straight up nerd out. Anthony followed suit, then the guys wrapped with a couple questions from the live audience.

You've asked. Anthony bugged Aaron a bunch about it. So it finally happened. Aaron Larsuel made his triumphant return into The Lounge and this episode was an immediate return to how they used to go. The guys put the west into contender tiers and figure out where the Lakers fit into that equation. Also covered: The Warriors wasting Steph, what the guys would've done different this summer and more.

Anthony outlines his tier system for the western conference and places the Lakers in the second grouping. Aaron gives his thoughts on Anthony's tiers as the two guys catch up for the first time on the pod in way too long.

The guys discuss the point of attack defense and how the team's need for it might give Bronny an opportunity.

The guys wrap up the episode with a fun story of the time when Chris Mullin obliterated a young Aaron at basketball camp. Yeah sure they talked a little more about the offseason and all that too but the story is the important part.

Anthony and Harrison share their annoyance at no one asking Adam Silver what the deal is going to be with the Lakers governorship. Anthony shares how Netflix helped explain why the feds are looking into the Clippers. The guys debate who they'd prefer to see run the Lakers, then end the episode with a couple questions from the live audience.

Anthony was hoping to learn more about the ownership/governorship situation this week. The board of governors meetings (and Adam Silver's speaking opportunity) came and went and... welp. But hey look on the bright side. At least we still have the Clippers to laugh at.

Anthony and Harrison take EVERYTHING into account to try to answer their preferred outcome in this whole ownership situation and eventually land on the side of wanting a fresh start. They answer a couple questions from the live chat to wrap things up.