A Blog devoted to Lakers News, Commentary, and Analysis
In a run of frustrating defeats, the Lakers keep topping themselves. Facing a Suns team without either Devin Booker or Dillon Brooks, the Lakers had a horrid defensive showing to drop a third straight game, 113-110. In another back-and-forth finish, LeBron James tied the game with a putback with just over 20 seconds remaining before […]
Can the way a baseball team operates be successfully imitated in basketball? Lakers fans are about to find out. Not only is their new majority owner Mark Walter in charge of the Dodgers, but he’s also bringing some of those talents to the Lakers. Lon Rosen is now the President of Business Operations for the […]
The Lakers will be looking a lot different next season, and not just on the court. With Mark Walter owning the Lakers and the Dodgers, that connection is merging the two franchises in interesting ways. Los Angeles has a new President of Business Operations with Lon Rosen taking over for Tim Harris, who held that […]
The post-All-Star break is an important stretch of the season. It’s when the contenders become clear, playoff teams start jockeying for positioning and the others lean into tanking. Lakers head coach JJ Redick talked about LA needing to play its best basketball in this moment, but that hasn’t materialized. Instead, LA has been wafting in […]
Deandre Ayton has gained a reputation for being something of an enigma during his relatively brief time in the NBA. The latest feature story on him is going to do nothing to change any of that. On Thursday, a story by Dave McMenamin of ESPN profiling Ayton with the Lakers this season had some of […]
The Lakers (34-23) are back on the road for the next two games, starting on Thursday when they play against the Phoenix Suns (33-26). This is the final match between the two teams this season, as the purple and gold look to tie the season series. Start time and TV schedule Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix […]
As one Lakers player is set to return from injury, another gets added to the list. Jaxson Hayes has been upgraded to probable for LA’s upcoming contest against Phoenix, but Rui Hachimura has now been downgraded to questionable with an illness. Hayes has so far missed just one game due to his ankle sprain. Lakers […]
After the firing of Joey and Jesse Buss, the Lakers found themselves with very few scouts left in their front office. They’ve begun to bolster that department by announcing on Wednesday that Tony Bennett would be joining the Lakers as an NBA Draft advisor. He’ll be working with the President of Basketball Operations, Rob Pelinka, […]
The Lakers ended their eight-game homestand disappointingly, losing to the Magic 110-109. While the loss certainly stung, how it happened made it all the more painful. Los Angeles led for the majority of the game against Orlando, but the Magic rallied in the fourth to flip the game in their favor. In the closing seconds, […]
Out of the All-Star break, the Lakers have the most certainty and structure as they’ve had all season with their rotation. For better or worse, there is a set starting lineup with little debate about change. Similarly, they have a rotation that, realistically, doesn’t have much argument for change either. Aside from a minor injury […]
LOS ANGELES — While the Lakers have their big three of LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves healthy and available, it hasn’t been smooth sailing. After the team’s loss against the Celtics on Sunday, Lakers head coach JJ Redick said they were “awful” offensively. In their encore on Tuesday, LA had another poor performance, […]
The Lakers had one of the more odd streaks come to an end this season. Despite being a very average team for the season, the Lakers were undefeated when leading into the fourth. They also still sported a sterling 16-3 record in clutch games. Both stats were outliers that took a hit on Tuesday. LA […]
For the first time this season, the Lakers lost when leading after three quarters, falling to the Magic at home on Tuesday, 110-109. A putback layup from Wendell Carter Jr. after a missed jumper from Paolo Banchero with 6.7 seconds left put Orlando up. Luka Dončić had a chance to win the game with a […]
The Lakers began their front office transformation under Mark Walter with the hiring of Lon Rosen, replacing Tim Harris as President of Business Operations. While his role has no on-court impact, it does represent the changes that are coming. However, don’t expect Rob Pelinka to be one of those changes. Rosen spoke to reporters before […]
Just when the Lakers reached full health, another injury occurred to one of their rotation players. Jaxson Hayes had to exit early during LA’s loss against Boston and was deemed doubtful to play in the team’s upcoming game against Orlando. On Tuesday afternoon, the Lakers downgraded him to out for the contest. After Monday’s practice, […]
While everyone constantly argues about officiating and calls in basketball, the goaltending rule feels pretty clear. A defender can not touch the ball on its descent or interfere with the rim. So, in the third quarter of the Lakers-Celtics matchup, when Neemias Queta stuck his entire hand through the basket on a Deandre Ayton shot […]
After an embarrassing loss to the Boston Celtics, the Lakers (34-22) aim to bounce back on Tuesday when they take on the Orlando Magic (30-26) at home. This game will conclude their nine-game home stand. Start time and TV schedule Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Orlando Magic When: 7:30 p.m. PT, Feb. 24 Where: Crypto.com Arena Watch: Spectrum […]
When you’re run off the floor by your rival, there aren’t many positives that can be taken away. Particularly with the way things played out in the fourth quarter, there was definitely a very sour taste in the mouths of fans walking away from that contest. However, when looking at the box score, it wasn’t […]
Hey guys! I know many of you enjoyed the non-Lakers discussion threads we had. Instead of simply bringing those back, though, I figured we could just open it up to anything. Want to discuss movies, games, basketball, TV, the weather, what you had for lunch, your wins of the week? Here’s the place. The only […]
The Lakers had plenty of self-inflicted wounds in Sunday’s loss to the Celtics. Both a lack of effort and a lack of execution doomed them, bitter pills to swallow in a rivalry game. But while it may not have ultimately affected the outcome of the game, officiating was also a big storyline. Across the course […]
LOS ANGELES — Sunday was a day of celebration for the Lakers as they honored Pat Riley with a statue before, fittingly, a game against the Celtics. Even though Riley is with the Heat organization now, he made sure everyone knew the task at hand. “The time has come to kick some a–,” Riley said. […]
On paper, no one game is more important than another across 82 games in the regular season. A result in October will matter as much as a result in March. But we know that’s not true. For the Lakers, there are two games that always matter more than the rest. There have been many rivalries […]
Hours after unveiling Pat Riley’s statue, the Lakers hit a new low this season as they were run off the floor by the Celtics on Sunday, 111-89. After a back-and-forth game for most of the contest, the Lakers put up a pathetic display in the fourth to allow Boston to blow the game open. The […]
From the moment JJ Redick was hired as the Lakers’ head coach, he was compared to Pat Riley. While some of it was just overzealousness and an attempt to hype the new man in charge, Redick does share some similarities with Riley. For starters, both were former players who transitioned from the court to the […]
Another Lakers legend officially joined those cast in bronze around Crypto.com Arena on Sunday. Pat Riley, architect of the Showtime era, had his own statue unveiled just hours prior to the Lakers and Celtics renewing their rivalry, a fitting follow-up for a man who spent his career in LA besting Boston. Unsurprsingly, Riley’s ceremony was […]