Lakers Lounge

Anthony recaps the game and dives into this being a result of the organizational questions he's raised for years.

This is probably the question we get more than any other. Once again, live viewers of the show wanted to know whether Mark Walter would ever step in if the Lakers remain in neutral under Rob Pelinka. Anthony offered a glimmer of hope.

The Lakers are 20-10 and have been led by some superstar-caliber play at the top of their roster but, based on the results from all star voting so far, you probably couldn't tell. Anthony explains how frustrations from the fan base are being reflected on the wrong people. He then answers a bunch of questions from the mailbag and live audience.

The Lakers have a good record. There have been some fun moments to this season, highlighted by stellar play from superstars. And yet... Fans don't believe in this team. The first returns on all star voting provide clear insight on the matter.

LeBron is in one of the final seasons of his career. He's still playing at a high level. His team is 20-10. Yet he is outside the top 10 in fan voting. How?

A listener asked about JJ's coaching and it led to a conversation about accountability, something the Lakers from the top of the roster on down.

The Lakers needed to get right and they played the exact team they needed to. Anthony breaks down the game, the tweaks he noticed in approach and execution, some comments from after the win and then wraps with questions from the live audience.

Sure, the starters are still uninspiring, but the Lakers did do a few things differently in this one. Anthony outlines and celebrates those tweaks.

Anthony expounds on his tweet from Christmas about the Lakers' leadership issues. For what it's worth, Luka Doncic agrees that it's something that needed to be addressed and still needs work.

Anthony and Aaron the age-old question: Who are these Lakers? Are they the guys who raced out to a hot start or are they the team that's fallen back to earth lately? If they're somewhere in-between, how close are they to either end of the spectrum?

The Lakers have been bipolar this season and it's led to a mostly meh point differential and underwhelming record against good teams. More concerning than anything is the fact that they force us to wonder if they're more of an 82-game team than a 16-win team. The answer to that question probably isn't the one we'd prefer to acknowledge.

JJ Redick is, by most standards, a stellar regular season coach -- especially when you factor in his inexperience. Still, he tends to default too often to favoring the offensive side of the ball during games and, if games don't go his way, he mostly refuses to accept accountability. If the Lakers are going to join the group of upper tier contenders, a listener asked whether Redick can be a part of...

Anthony is now officially concerned about the statistical profile of this Lakers team.

The Lakers have hovered at mediocre all season in one pretty important stat. Is it time to listen to said stat?

OH COME ON THIS IS THE EXACT SAME HEADLINE AS LATE STAGE LEBRON-AD ROSTERS.

We're nearing Christmas and the new year, which means the fork in the road which will force Rob Pelinka into a decision about the team's intentions this year is just ahead on the horizon. Anthony and Harrison discuss what they want from Pelinka this year, and it's basically what they've wanted from him for almost a decade.

Anthony knows what he wants from Santa this year and it's exactly what he's wanted for the last several years: Rob Pelinka committing to winning with a promising basketball team. Harrison laughs and Anthony's commitment.

Harrison drops the line of this episode. That's all we're gonna say.

Anthony and Harrison agree on which direction they'd like to see Rob Pelinka take this roster. Now they discuss which moves they'd like to see made.

Anthony opens with a question from the iTunes mailbag asking about how Lakers assets tend to be talked about compared to others teams'. He then offers up an update on all the Lakers' injuries and answers as many questions from the live audience as he could before the end of the hour.

Anthony explains why Lakers assets always seem underrated compared to other teams' and the impact that has on the analysis after the Lakers make their trades. Then, he offers up an update on the Lakers' injuries and launches a fun Q&A with the live audience.

A listener wanted to know why Ben Mathurin would potentially be available, so Anthony explains, then he offered up his stance on whether the Lakers should pursue Mathurin, even given some of the defensive questions. The Q&A continued from there.

Anthony is sick and tired of NBA referees ruining an otherwise great product. The guys discuss an ugly win and what to take away from it. Raj doesn't understand the rip off the bandaid analogy.

Watching an NBA basketball game doesn't have to be this bad. And a lot of the league's watchability problems can be traced back to the referees who, on any given night, can decide how entertaining a game can be.

Anthony compares JJ Redick to a couple football coaches JJ probably wouldn't want to be compared to. Raj follows this up with not understanding the point of the rip-off-the-bandaid analogy.