Lakers Lounge

LeBron spoke about Austin Reaves on his own podcast today and somehow that message (as well as James' own actions while playing with Reaves) is being ignored completely because it's more fun to dramatize what James might think about Reaves based on what his agent said on a podcast.

Anthony was traveling and had a bunch of pent-up takes he needed to fire off coming off that great Lakers road trip. This was a blast to record.

Anthony and Raj give their thoughts on the Playback platform shutting down, then dive into this most recent and successful Lakers road trip.

Anthony and Raj both agree the biggest takeaway from that win over the Sixers was the work LeBron put in as a screener. This unlocks so many things for a variety of reasons.

Take a look around at this situation. The Lakers are the two-seed in the west. They have room to improve this year and feel they have a path to Giannis after. LeBron was never finding a better situation than this, realistically speaking, as Anthony explains.

Anthony and Raj take you through one of the more fun shows we've ever made. No joke. You won't want to miss this one.

Anthony and Raj just enjoy that play. The game was great. Austin was incredible. The Lakers won. But that play was so freakin' cool. Let's all soak that up together. (you know which play)

Anthony goes through Austin Reaves' career progression and marvels at the fact Reaves has not once ever been seriously considered for Most Improved. That has to change this year. The guys also talk about Adou Thiero, who looked really good again last night.

Anthony hasn't spoken to anyone on the pod since the latest Giannis stuff dropped so he made Raj discuss it. The guys throw a take out there that will probably sound absolutely ridiculous at first, but makes more sense the more you think about it. They wrap with a few super comments from the live audience.

First, the Clippers cut Chris Paul's retirement tour short because he was bullying the collection of losers he was surrounded by. Anthony laughs at that situation, then explains why it's unlikely Paul will be a Laker. Then, a mere couple hours later, things escalated as Giannis Antetokounmpo's camp told Shams Charania of ESPN that they're getting ready to meet with Bucks leadership soon to discuss...

20 games into the Lakers season, it's time for progress reports. Not full-on report cards, just a quick look at where things stand and where they'll need to go from here. First, Anthony, Jovan and Pete gives grades to the Lakers overall, then they hand them out to Luka Doncic, JJ Redick and Austin Reaves. LeBron James received and Incomplete, though the guys would definitely like to see more from...

Before diving into their grades so far, the guys discuss that loss to the Phoenix Suns and it being a continuation of a somewhat concerning trend. From there, the guys gives grades starting macro, then moving micro.

Anthony, Pete and Jovan wrap up their first half of the conversation, grading out they factors in this season, then open up their discussion by welcoming in Dan Woike and Harrison Faigen. Everyone now discusses the grades they'd give to the "other" guys on this roster, which leads to a fun Deandre Ayton conversation.

Given the parameters Rob Pelinka worked with, he had a very successful offseason. Still, because he stayed within those parameters, the roster still needs work. The guys discusses the directions the Lakers could go in, then give their thoughts on this whole Giannis Antetokounmpo situation.

One stat in particular goes a long way in painting the picture of the Lakers' losses. Anthony offers it up and contextualizes its impact on the way the Lakers look in wins vs. losses. Then, he reacts to some of the quotes that came out of last night's embarrassment. From there, he opens the mailbag, where listeners wanted to know about Giannis Antetokounmpo's social media latest and the chances he...

Anthony found a stat (point offs turnovers in wins v losses) that he thinks tells the consistent story to the Lakers' losses this season -- which often have come in blowout fashion. Then, he reacts to some of the quotes from after that loss to the Suns (another blowout) and the different stories they told.

Giannis scrubbed his social media clean of almost anything having to do with the Milwaukee Bucks. Doing so in the middle of the season after his team fell out of the play-in race prooooooobably isn't the best sign. Anthony breaks it down.

Anthony apparently gave a controversial take in saying he thinks the Lakers shouldn't turn LeBron James into just a spot up shooter. He stands by it, monsters!

The Suns took the fight to the Lakers, something they frankly have not dealt with well so far this season. It was also something we'd hope they'd improve on seeing as it's how they were knocked out last season. Anthony talks about this game, Dillon Brooks' play, the overall concerning trend and then dives into questions from the live audience.

Dillon Brooks seemed to love that game. He played so well that Anthony found himself loving Brooks' game.

The Lakers are consistently underperforming against a specific kind of team. This is now a trend that dates back to how they were eliminated last season. How nervous should we be about this?

A listener asked near the end of the show how likely it is that the Lakers finish the season without making any trades. Anthony answers, then gives how he'd react if that is how this plays out. He also discusses the Lakers' poor transition play on both sides of the ball and why he doesn't think the sky is falling, but...

Anthony recaps Lakers-Pelicans, marvels at Luka and Austin's offensive productivity, enjoys Ayton's game and zooms out at the streak the Lakers are currently on. Then, he opens up the discussion to the live audience and gets pretty metta about fandom.

This felt like a trap game going in. The Lakers made sure it wasn't going to be one with the way they played in the first. Anthony recaps the game and explains why he was fairly happy with how it played out, for the most part.

The Lakers have won seven straight. They're the two seed in the west. Luka, Austin and LeBron are potentially figuring out how to play basketball at a level offensively we haven't really seen very often (if ever) before. Yes, there are some questions about this team. Still, remember to stop and smell the roses from time to time, too.