Lakers Lounge

The Lakers haven't opened strong. Things are rolling in the right direction. Injuries just keep stacking up for other teams. So long as those things continue? The guys talk about the early returns one week or so in, Jarred Vanderbilt finally getting a shot, and plenty more -- plus why both the guys think Rob Pelinka should cash in every asset he can this season.

Anthony steps aside and lets Raj get as nerdy as he wants about the early returns on this Lakers group.

Anthony and Raj both hope Jarred Vanderbilt is now a cemented part of the Lakers' rotation. How does that change the rest of the pieces around him?

The west is now wide open with a few tough injuries to key figures. The Lakers look good. There's a clear hole in the roster they NEED to address. They only have so much at hand to do so. So... Once again, Anthony is asking the front office to go all in. Raj agrees.

Luka Doncic and Ziaire Williams got the night off. Austin Reaves didn't really have it. The Clippers sold out to stop Walker Kessler. This means other guys would have to step up if the Lakers wanted to win this one. Well, they sure did. This was a fun, albeit ugly win. Anthony breaks it down.

Collin Sexton and Quentin Grimes caught plenty of criticism from the loss to Portland only a day ago. Well, they responded with two very solid performances when the Lakers needed them. Anthony breaks down the win over the Clippers zoomed out, then celebrates Grimes and Sexton's success.

JJ Redick is almost famously online, which means he hears or sees all the criticism of his coaching. Sometimes (as we saw with Darvin Ham), coaches will stick by their instincts out of spite because of that criticism. Anthony was happy to see Redick not do that with Jarred Vanderbilt.

Anthony breaks down the game from a macro point-of-view, then zooms in on some of the individual performances than led to the outcome. Luka and Austin did more than enough to earn a win. Teams have adjusted to Kessler on both ends. Can the Lakers counterpunch?

Sometimes in a loss like that, it's easy to focus too much on the negative. What we can't lose sight of is how ridiculous Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves has been. Anthony discusses that, then wraps with a little live chat Q&A.

Utah sold completely out to make sure Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves couldn't just keep lobbing the alley-oop over the top to Walker Kessler. This put the impetus on shooters to open that lane back up. Portland went with a similar strategy that likely isn't going anywhere.

Anthony runs through all the ways OKC's injuries (and the salary dumps this summer) impact this season and how the Lakers approach it. He then opens the mailbag where everyone is preeeeetty worries about the Lakers' backup center disaster. He laughs at the Celtics a bit to wrap things up.

OKC suffered two brutal injuries Sunday that completely alter what the entire Western Conference might look like. Anthony explains everything going on there and the impact that should have on how the Lakers approach this season.

Rob Pelinka has either had an elite center with no backup or a meh center with an ok backup ever since the Lakers won a ring with an elite center and depth behind him. Anthony explains how not learning from the mistakes made since that championship led directly to Kevon Looney being on this roster right now. He wraps with a couple more questions and a few minutes laughing at the Celtics/Jaylen Bro...

Anthony breaks down the Lakers' third win of the season against a Jazz team that presented some unique challenges. He marvel's at Luka's incredible production and Austin being a chameleon depending on what the Lakers need from possession to possession. Walker Kessler had his first bad game as a Laker and, in the process, highlighted just how thin the Lakers are behind him. Anthony wraps with a few...

Maybe the craziest part of Luka's performance as how poorly it started. He and the Lakers dug themselves a hole in that first quarter that Austin Reaves helped chip away at until Luka brought some dynamite. Anthony discusses the game zoomed out, Doncic's performance, Austin's incredible efficiency to start the season and the impact habits had on this game's outcome.

We got a look at what the Lakers' ceiling lowers to if Walker Kessler doesn't have it and, well, it wasn't pretty. Anthony discusses that, then answers a few questions from the live audience.

Anthony and Pete discuss what they saw from the Lakers in that first game and look ahead to what they think they'll see from the team moving forward this season. What do they think will be this team's strengths? Weaknesses? Can anything be done about the backup center issues? Could this issue have been avoided?

Anthony and Pete really enjoyed that opening night game and think there's a ton to build on. They discuss what they saw from the team in an actual game and try to outline what they think will be strengths this season.

Anthony is worried about perimeter defense. Pete is a little less worried about that, but does have some concern about the rebounding. The guys discuss whether or how the Lakers can fix these issues internally or will eventually need to make a change.

Everyone can see it. The Lakers might have the worst backup center in the league. So, what can be done about it and could this have been avoided? The guys discuss that and rehash whether or not they would've just kept Deandre Ayton.

Anthony and Harrison discuss the fallout from Yaxel Lendeborg's comments about Luka Doncic and Twitter desire to drag out all these situations until they go from fun banter to nauseating debates. They give their thoughts on that blowout win and some other games from around the league. The guys wrap with a few questions from the live audience.

The internet is back at its nonsense because of the Yaxel-Luka beef, which Anthony thought was so onesided we wouldn't get this kind of discourse but here we are.

The Warriors were able to hang around for just about half the game because the Lakers couldn't contain Steph Curry. The guys discuss the flawed initial approach and what led to the success they had as the game went on.

Anthony just said a week ago how he's actually enjoyed the way this Lakers team has been analuzed on bigger platforms. Well, that came to screeching halt because we can't have nice things. He and Harrison talk about that and the other topics the live chat brought to the table.

Holy hell what a fun way to start the season. Anthony talks about Luka Doncic's dominance, especially after Yaxel Lendeborg talked some crazy stuff, Walker Kessler's official debut, JJ Redick's decision with the starters and more. He wraps with some questions from the live audience and laughs at Yaxel's postgame comments.