Lakers Lounge

Anthony's sources told him earlier yesterday that Austin was on track to return to action today. Then, the Lakers' injury report listed Austin as questionable, an upgrade from before. Things are heading in the right direction, so Anthony and Harrison discuss what they'd like to see from Austin, Luka and LeBron.

Anthony and Harrison debate JJ Redick's choices for fifth starter between Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia. Again.

The guys discuss the scene in Cleveland, where LeBron was visibly moved by a thank-you video. Does it mean anything? Then, Anthony has heard De'Andre Hunter's name far too often not to discuss the possibilities and how his game would fit. They wrap by answering a couple questions from the live audience.

What a weird night.

The Lakers folded in spectacular fashion on a night where both their available stars had weird games for different reasons.

Presented an opportunity to grift to his heart's extent, Anthony gives about as boring an answer has he possibly can. For journalism.

As implied by the title of the pod, it's a loaded one that wanders everywhere from injury details, to the ethics of reporting, to the desire to retell history and the problems caused by that, to parenthood and everywhere in-betwee.

Anthony noticed along with everyone how Shams tweeted that Austin was making his return today only to delete that tweet and never issue any kind of correction. Journalism! Anthony offers up what he's heard about the situation and then dives into some of the choices Austin's return leads to.

Anthony laughs at a report that Bronny James wasn't drafted at LeBron's request and uses it to talk about how the media does a disservice to everyone. From there, he dives into the chat to answer a couple questions about the trade deadline. Get ready for some Nic Claxton talk.

Anthony recaps a weird but mostly fun Lakers win over the Bulls. Luka was incredible. Ayton was the opposite of that. Rui has been really bleepin good since he went to the bench. Austin might be back soon and the offense is clicking in a way that he can only help. Listeners still want to know about incoming trades.

Anthony explains what he loved about Luka's game last night, what he's sick of watching from Ayton and why he's so impressed by Rui.

After recapping the game and talking about the recent developments surrounding the Lakers, Anthony opens things up to the rest of the live audience, who is still pretty focused on the trade deadline, which is still a little more than a week away.

Fun episode today. Anthony's buddy was invited to the Lakers-Mavs game Saturday by Luka Doncic (really), so he talks about that experience and where both teams stand a year or so after the trade. Then, Anthony dives into the mailbag and live chat for some great topics.

The Lakers and Mavs played in Dallas over the weekend and Luka Doncic hosted a select few fans and content creators for the game in a suite. One such fan was Anthony's buddy, Kirk (Pod Maverick). So the guys talk about that experience, the game itself, Luka shunning Jason Kidd and more.

Listeners are still laser focused on the trade deadline, where they're hoping the Lakers will address some of the glaring holes on the roster. Anthony explains why the entire market is held up and why he wishes the Lakers would zag while the rest of the league zigs.

Anthony and Pete catch up following an interesting couple of weeks. They discuss this ESPN story about the Buss family and Jeanie's relationship with LeBron James. They react to James' quotes from last night about all this. Then, in terms of actual basketball, they discuss the team going bigger with the help of Drew Timme and the tweaks they'd like to see from this trade deadline.

Anthony and Pete discuss the reporting from ESPN about the Buss siblings and Jeanie's relationship with LeBron James. They also discuss James' response from last night to said reporting. This launches a conversation about sports media that this whole ordeal gave us some insight into.

Anthony and Pete turn their attention to the basketball the Lakers have been playing lately. They both loves what he's seen from Drew Timme and hopes the Lakers lean fully into this bigger/stronger identity he's been a part of when Austin Reaves comes back. Seeing as this is the last time they will talk before the trade deadline, they preview that as well.

The Lakers lost to the Clippers. They climbed back and gave themselves chances, but that was annoying. Anthony recaps the game, answers some questions and calls it a night. Because that was annoying.

Anthony recaps this game, gives his thoughts on the Lakers' zone and Gabe Vincent continuing to get minutes despite not really helping in any particular way and everything else from a weird night at the Aspiration Dome.

A listener showed their concern about Luka Doncic continuing to shoot as many threes as he does at such a poor rate, so Anthony explains why this is such a tough subject to navigate.

You may want to get comfortable for this one. The guys discuss the various angles worth taking seriously, laugh at the parts of the story that made them laugh and handle everything in-between.

Right as the guys were wondering who would get the statement from Jeanie Buss, she gave one to The Athletic (Sam Amick). Harrison levitates for the rest of thesegment.

According to Baxter Holmes, Jeanie Buss felt LeBron James didn't take enough blame for the Russell Westbrook trade. This is patently ridiculous, seeing as she had final say on the trade and her untouchable Rob Pelinka was very much for it, too.

Anthony and Harrison tackle the complicated relationship between Jeanie and her sibling's impact on the Lakers and Jerry Buss' expectations on them. More importantly, Anthony lets you know how he actually feels about the Jedi Order and their ridiculous policies.