Lakers Lounge

The Lakers absolutely needed to win last night against a Wizards team carrying a 12-game losing streak, so of course they played with their food and played five extra minutes they didn't have to. Anthony was not thrilled, to say the least, especially when talking about Darvin Ham. LeBron and AD were special though.

Anthony and Aaron continue to relive last night's incredible comeback with the help of an old clip from a former employer. Then, they get into the meat of the episode, that being: How high should people's expectations of this be from here on out? And if they don't meet those expectations, who should be held accountable?

Anthony and Raj try to piece together some real thoughts after one of the craziest comebacks you'll ever see. That LeBron James guy, pretty good at basketball, he is.

Anthony relays the latest information on Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent. It's not.... great. Then he chuckles a little at LeBron James hating mock drafts now this Bronny isn't being included in them. He then discusses what frustrates him about Darvin Ham's desire to recreate the Bucks when last year's team is sitting right there. Finally, he discusses Brian Windhorst's report on LeBron wanting...

Anthony and Harrison discuss the hypothetical from over the weekend on whether the Lakers would perhaps be better off losing earlier than planned this season to ensure Darvin Ham gets fired. Harrison was holding strong to his stance that he'd rather the Lakers win until Anthony blew his mind with his latest tidbit of reporting. They also talk about how little confidence they have in anyone after L...

A reminder, this aired as part of the Lowdown today, but it was such a tough question that completely derailed the Lakers Lounge slack that we decided to clip it so you can sit with this question. Is winning one playoff round enough for you as a fan if it means there's a greater chance Darvin Ham is back next year?

Anthony recaps another frustrating loss. He discusses Anthony Davis' empty stats, Darvin Ham's super small lineup and Taurean Prince's role. Then, he asks a tough question: Would you rather lose in the playoffs early and ensure Ham is gone next season, or win a round or two and have to go through all this again? He wraps with a look at a brutal 10-game stretch coming up.

Anthony welcomes Raj AND Aaron into The Lounge to discuss that annoying loss to the surging Warriors. The guys talk about the optics of LeBron sitting both games on either side of the All Star Break but playing in the All Star Game, itself, D'Angelo Russell's frustrating game, Rui Hachimura having the biggest game between floor and ceiling any of the guys can recall and plenty more.

Anthony welcomes Matt Moore (The Action Network) back after hearing him make the case on his show, "Buckets," that the Lakers are actually good value to win the championship now. The guys use that as a launchpad to discuss this Lakers season so far, MVP odds, the All Star Weekend that was, and plenty more.

Anthony welcomes a friend of the show, Mirjam Swanson (Southern California News Group, OC Register), to discuss what it's been like to editorialize about these Lakers after focusing on the Clippers as she had previously. This leads to a discussion about Darvin Ham not getting the continuity memo and a comparison between how the Lakers do things vs. how the Clippers do. To wrap things up, they disc...

Anthony discusses an All Star Weekend that did definitely happen. There were highs and there were definitely lows, and LeBron James gave his usual hilarious quotes.

Anthony opens the show with an addition to the live show and a report about the vibes surrounding the team and reacts to what he's been hearing on that front. Then, he opens up the conversation with the help of the iTunes mailbag, Twitter and Youtube comments.

Anthony and Aaron have a fun conversation about the first half of the season and how, based on what they saw from the Lakers during that time, they feel about the team heading into All Star Weekend. They also discuss Rui Hachimura's recent play with the new starters, that group's identity, and the LeBron James/Warriors, Trae Young/Donovan Mitchell/Lakers trade rumors.

No LeBron James. They got into Utah at 4 in the morning after playing the night before. Ugly first half. Then Anthony Davis happened in the third. Anthony explains why this was such a huge win, marvels at Rui Hachimura's play and wonders why it took so long to use him the way they are, and just generally takes in an underratedly big win. He wraps with some thoughts on the LeBron James-Warriors rum...

The Lakers have looked like a completely different since Rui Hachimura joined the starting five. That lineup has taken off and the Lakers appear to enjoy playing basketball again. Anthony discusses that, a nice win over the Detroit Pistons, Spencer Dinwiddie making his debut and all the noise surrounding Trae Young right now.

Anthony opens with a quick recap of the weekend and whether the Lakers are done adding to their roster via this buyout market. Then, having watched that incredible Super Bowl win, he discusses what teams owe their great players. The Chiefs did just enough for Patrick Mahomes, and they won it all. The Lakers owe it to LeBron James and Anthony Davis to give them a viable chance to succeed at the hig...

Jovan Buha (The Athletic) stops by to discuss the Lakers' trade deadline. The guys both knew it would be quiet, but we didn't know it would be The Quiet Place, type quiet. They discuss what we were hearing leading up to the deadline, what they heard throughout, and where they think the Lakers go from there. From there, they discuss the job Rob Pelinka has done, how LeBron James might feel about al...

After a dead deadline, the Lakers needed a little luck to round out this roster and got some in the form of the Raptors surprisingly waiving Spencer Dinwiddie. Anthony takes you behind the scenes of their pursuit, discusses his impact on the roster (good and bad potentially), and how this addition might help with some of the vibes coming off of a disappointing deadline.

Lakers fans watched their front office punt the season, then try to celebrate Kobe, and wrap things up with a loss to the Denver Nuggets. Anthony welcomes Raj into The Lounge to talk their way through all of it.

This was a disaster of a trade deadline. Anthony talks through it with the help of the live audience. End of the day, the Lakers have a ton of work to do and just missed a huge opportunity.

You can listen as Anthony slips further and further into insanity because the Lakers were heading toward a complete and utter failure of a trade deadline. Aaron tries to contextualize it as best as he could, but Anthony was not thrilled. Fun listen!

Anthony offers up what little new information he has and then discusses some of the decisions made back in the summer that are hurting the Lakers now. At some point, he wants the Lakers to actually operate like the big market team they actually are. Right now, the Lakers are a big market team that's run like a small market team in all the worst ways.

The Lakers, just like just about everyone else, find themselves waiting for the trade market to heat up. Things haven't gone as planned for a variety of reasons this year for LeBron James, and he's reached the point where he wants us to know about it. Anthony welcomes Jorge Sedano to talk about the unique way James sends those messages.

Anthony went live on the show's youtube page to discuss the goings on this deadline and just how slowly everything is developing. If you've read or listened here consistently, though, that shouldn't surprise you. Still, the possibility that the Lakers stand pat is becoming all the more real by the hour, seemingly, as Anthony explains, so what would that mean moving forward not just this season but...

The Lakers handled the Hornets in fairly predictable fashion but hey, a win is a win and they wrapped up a 4-2 road trip that should go a long way in convincing the front office to expend asset capital to fortify this roster. Anthony and Harrison discuss how frustrating it is to have that conversation (again). Speaking of frustrations, half the league is pretty annoyed at how the deadline is playi...