Lakers Lounge

Another show, another opportunity apparently for people to demand Austin Reaves be shown the door. We sincerely don't get it.

The Lakers have been extremely cautious with their guys this preseason and are just now getting ready to get some key guys on the court. Anthony discusses tonight's game and what he'll be watching for.

It's been a weird summer, followed by a weird training camp, followed by some weird reports, which... who knows what might follow all that. Anthony and Harrison break that down, then discuss Luka Doncic finally making his preseason debut.

Anthony details the timeline that got us to this point, then opens up the conversation so that he and Harrison can try to figure out how real they think all this nonsense actually is.

Anthony and Harrison wrap up their discussion on all this LeBron passive aggressive nonsense, then debate whether the Lakers' approach to the preseason and training camp is actually concerning.

The Lakers wrapped up the weekend with their first win of the preseason. There was plenty to like, even if you entered the festivities annoyed (as Anthony did) with the Lakers because of the decision to not play Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart.

The Lakers once again held Luka Doncic out of the game, as well as Marcus Smart. This annoyed Anthony but, once the game started, there was a lot to like. Anthony broke down the game, then answered questions from the live audience.

The Lakers picked up their first win of the preseason as Austin Reaves outdueled Brandin Podziemski. Anthony recaps the game, then reacts to Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart being held out again.

After yet another set of comments asking about trading Austin Reaves, Anthony says one key detail always seems to be missing from those ideas. This team would be a lot worse without Austin. It's time people accepted that.

The Lakers won't have LeBron at the beginning of the season and they're once again playing catchup. Anthony discusses the ambiguity surrounding James' injury, the rotation with him out, Marcus Smart's preseason availability and does so while celebrating that insane Dodgers win.

LeBron James will miss the start of the season with sciatica. So there's that. Anthony reacts to the news, then dives into the rotation without James. He then wonders why the Giannis rumors didn't register on the radar for anyone covering the Lakers. He wraps with a Q&A with the live audience.

With LeBron out for roughly a month (at least), Anthony breaks down the rotation without, starting with, well, the starters.

After wrapping up the conversation about Giannis' situation and how it impacts the Lakers, Anthony is asked about Lauri Markannen. He answers that question before mentally preparing himself for the Dodgers game.

The way this training camp has gone, and the seemingly inevitable slow start, all comes down to leadership. Anthony sums up this thoughts about that, then offers up a summary of the Dalton Knecht situation.

With yet another set of quotes and updates from practice about who isn't practicing, Anthony is officially annoyed. He let's it rip. Then, he reacts to an Athletic report about Dalton Knecht's trade value and offers up what he's heard on that front. He wraps up with a quick Q&A.

Anthony asks a question we might not like the answer to.

Dalton Knecht's trade value is in the dumps. It could get a little lower but not by much without injury. Anthony offers up what he's heard about how the league feels about Knecht and where things will have to go from here if he's going to reclaim some of that stature he had coming out of college.

With reports out that the Knicks and Bucks held trade talks for Giannis, Anthony explains how this makes the Lakers offseason make a little more sense and also blurs this upcoming season. He also discusses the Lakers' training camp approach and how it might be setting them up for failure.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is apparently looking outside Brooklyn but never really set his sights on the Lakers. Anthony connects the dots to make the Lakers' offseason make a little more sense. The Lakers continued their lackadaisical approach to training camp and Anthony is starting to get worried.

Anthony uses the Giannis reports from ESPN to connect the dots on this Lakers offseason, then explains the balance the Lakers will need to strike as they weigh remaining flexible for him but also try to maximize their opportunity this season.

The good news from practice was that Marcus Smart is practicing. Then, we got the bad news, and Anthony is starting to worry that the Lakers are missing an opportunity this training camp.

Anthony breaks down LeBron's "decision" tweet, then dives into his annoyance at the way the Lakers have approached training camp and the preseason to this point.

Anthony reacts to LeBron James' tweet teasing... something (we're pretty sure it's Prime Day). But just in case... we do have to go through scenarios. Then, he dives into the mailbags to talk about the Lakers' unimpressive training camp to this point.

Anthony reacts to LeBron's cryptic tweet that was almost assuredly about Amazon Prime Day. Still, we do have to talk about the if here.

It's going to take a real culture and identity of winning habits for the Lakers to take their next step. So far this training camp and preseason, that identity and habits have been difficult to identify.