Lakers Lounge

The guys look back on the Lakers beating Houston in round one and, really, it all starts with LeBron James. Somehow, at age 41, he did it again.

Austin Reaves has struggled mightily against OKC. Anthony asks Pete and Jovan if there's anything the Lakers can do to turn that trend around.

The guys discuss how they think Deandre Ayton will fare in this series, then, after Jovan asks which key stat the Lakers can turn in their favor, they give their predictions for round two.

Oh, what a weekend that was. Anthony enjoys that, dives into his takeaways from the first round, discusses the options the Lakers have on the wing this summer and then dives into a Q&A with the live audience.

Anthony laughs at the Celtics, gives a few thoughts about the teams that moved on in these playoffs, laughs at the Celtics, discusses the doomed two-timeline efforts across the league, laughs at the Celtics and... laughs at the Celtics.

A listener asked in an iTunes mailbag question what the Lakers' options might be this summer at the wing spots. Anthony gives his thoughts to answer the question, but also stresses who important he thinks centers are in today's NBA -- especially on a Luka Doncic team.

The Lakers blew out the Rockets to close out the series and avoid the wrong kind of history. Anthony and Raj break down the game zoomed out and in. Really though, this was about celebrating and riding the wave that we can, while it's rolling.

Anthony and Raj react to that win. Anthony takes a second to explain why that win mattered to Dodgers fans specifically.

The only reason the Lakers ever had a chance in this series is 41-year-old LeBron James. So, after watching them take care of business, Anthony and Raj marvel at what the hell they just watched from one of the greatest athletes ever.

The guys celebrate the night and the series Rui Hachimura just had.

With the Lakers having taken care of business and avoiding the wrong kind of history, Raj and Anthony chuckle a little bit about the Celtics' current predicament.

Well, the Lakers put themselves in a super tough spot. Anthony welcomes Edwin Garcia (Silver Screen & Roll) into The Lounge to talk about this predicament, how the Lakers avoid the wrong kind of history and basically just vent about this team never being normal.

The Lakers had a golden opportunity and let it slide right on by. Teams typically pay for those mistakes and now the they face the wrong kind of history. Anthony and Edwin discuss their panic levels and analyze how the Lakers can avoid blowing that 3-0 lead.

Yes, it sucks to be nervous going into tonight's game, but at the same time, if you would've told us the Lakers would hold a 3-2 lead given the odds they were facing, that'd be a win in and of itself. And yet... here we stand. Should the context matter? Or is that coping?

Anthony recaps a weird game, discusses Houston's big adjustment, analyzes Austin Reaves' return to the court and then wraps with a Q&A with a feisty live audience.

Game five was defined by great Houston shooting and a complete abandonment of the offensive boards by them -- a total course correct from their identity much of the season. Anthony explains the move, what else he saw from the game and whether he thinks the Lakers have a counter-punch.

Anthony explains why this was probably LeBron's second least impactful game of the series (ok he said least but it was late and he meant second-least) so far, then dives into questions and comments from the live audience.

Anthony wraps up the show's questions from the live audience, and they weren't in the best mood. So, Anthony pushed back on some of the doom and gloom about individual guys as the Lakers look ahead to this summer.

Reports are that Austin Reaves' return is looking pretty good for game five. The reports on Kevin Durant's are less positive. Anthony consider this a "please-win" game, also because of how OKC looked in sweeping the Suns. The guys react to the voting breakdown for the NBA's Executive of the Year award.

Contrary to some pockets in the Lakers fan base's beliefs, Austin Reaves coming back would be great for the Lakers. Anthony and Harrison explain why.

The guys wrap up their conversation about OKC as The Empire and turn their attention to Brad Stephens winning exec of the year and, maybe more notably, Rob Pelinka receiving a single third place vote.

In a loaded mailbag/Q&A session, Anthony answers questions about LeBron James' future with the Lakers, how he'd build around Luka Doncic with OKC in mind, what the rotations should look like with Austin Reaves potentially back and more.

The Lakers have been a super tight group dating back to the beginning of March. LeBron James has been a big part of that. Have these couple months changed the chances that he returns next season? Anthony explains whjy he thinks so, but that the Lakers must set aside any pettiness if they want him back.

Luka Doncic has had success against OKC in the playoffs, so Anthony outlines how he would build a roster that gives Doncic a viable chance at doing so again as soon as next year.

A member of the live audience asked about the amount of input teams have on Nike jerseys and whether the Lakers could push for gold jerseys rather than the current banana yellow coloring. Anthony explains how things work between Nike and the league and the role Tim Harris had in the current uniforms.