Lakers Lounge

Following LeBron James' injury on Saturday afternoon, the Los Angeles Lakers began life without their top two stars on Sunday night on the road against the Phoenix Suns. While the undermanned Lakers fought to the finish, the Suns came away with a double-digit win in what was likely a precursor for the weeks to come for L.A. Having taken the rough weekend for fans, Anthony and Jacob sit down to discuss the post-LeBron life in Los Angeles while recapping Sunday's game. They look at what positives could come from the Lakers not having James and Davis for the foreseeable future (not many!) and how the team might play without them. Then, they discuss whether the injuries change the Lakers' mindset heading into the trade deadline that is just days away. Should the team look for someone to help in the short term? Should they stand pat and only target buyout guys? After that, the two step back and look at the league in a bigger sense. James' injury paired with that of LaMelo Ball's leads the two to question whether the league is acting in the best interest of the players and just how much is at risk for the league this season. They discuss the condensed schedule, the rash of injuries this season to marquee players and connect the dots between the two. Finally, Jacob offers a preview of the upcoming game against the New Orleans Pelicans in a contest that now has an entirely different feel to it without James and Davis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lakers beat the Hornets Thursday, and LeBron James seized the moment to make a statement for his MVP candidacy. Sabreena and Christian talk about why this particular game seemingly meant so much to LeBron and try to come up with words to describe his performance, specifically defensively as he closed the game at center. They then spend some time on LeBron's MVP case before addressing the continued Andre Drummond noise and what the Lakers could and should do with their center position. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Jas is joined by Brian and Andy Kamentzky to talk all things Lakers. L.A. is 6-6 without Anthony Davis, the guys kick things off by discussing what has been the biggest issue without AD in the lineup. Brian and Andy then share their thoughts on why Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma have turned the corner recently. Following that, they get into which players the Lakers should target via trade of the buyout market and which available big men could come in and take Marc Gasol's place. Then, the guys get into which teams around the league would give the Lakers the most fits in a playoff series and how each contending team will do down the stretch. To wrap things up, Brian and Andy look back at their career in the sports media industry and give some tips on how to stay relevant in the challenging industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Padilla and Alex Regla talk about the Lakers 137-121 victory over the Wolves. LeBron James recorded a triple double for the 2nd straight game. Montrezl Harrell has been a monster since the All Star break. Should the Lakers rest LeBron with a busy 2nd half schedule? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors on Monday night, and we’re ready to break it down. On the latest episode of “Lakers, Explained” — a podcast by Silver Screen and Roll — co-hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin dove into the game. First, both hosts wanted to apologize to Montrezl Harrell for underrating what he brings at times. He showed his value against the Warriors, and has made progress on defense lately. Then they praised Kyle Kuzma after the latest sign of his own improvements against Golden State. How much juice those two are giving the Lakers right now cannot be overstated. After all that, in the second half of the show, Harrison and Anthony got into why the Lakers making a trade for P.J. Tucker — they’re rumored to still be talking to the Rockets — work is a lot less likely than them adding him in the buyout market because of how complicated a deal would be. Plus, is such a deal even a good idea? Harrison broke down all the crazy level of machinations that would be required to make a trade that isn’t 1-for-1 work to outline how hard it would be for Rob Pelinka and the front office to get it done. And that goes for Tucker, or any of their other rumored targets. Finally, the two wrapped up the show by getting you ready for the second night of the back-to-back against an awful Minnesota Timberwolves by trying to get Anthony to name their coach and starting lineup. He did better than Charles Barkley does in “Who He Play For?”, but only marginally so. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen, and Anthony @AnthonyIrwinLA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's podcast, Christian and Jacob react to Jared Dudley's injury and explain why the Lakers can't sign a player to replace him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Jas Kang and Christian recap the first 37 games of the Lakers' season, breakdown what has went wrong without Anthony Davis in the lineup and preview the second half of the schedule. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lakers played their final game of the first half of the season Wednesday and were down all three frontcourt starters plus Alex Caruso. It wasn't altogether surprising that the Lakers lost to the Kings in their absence, but Sabreena and Anthony still found reasons to enjoy the performance, both in the moment and for what it could mean going forward. After spending some time on the game itself, the two of them reminisce about their favorite Lakers All-Star memories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Padilla and Alex Regla discuss the Lakers 114-104 loss to the Suns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While Dennis Schröder was out, the Lakers went 0-4. Since he’s returned, they’ve won two games in a row. While that isn’t grounds to campaign for him to win MVP, it does mean it’s time to appreciate how much he helps this team and how important he is, especially with Anthony Davis set to miss at least five more games. So on today’s episode of “Lakers, Explained," that’s exactly what co-hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin did. Did they undervalue how important to this team Dennis is before? Is he really as helpful as he seemed to be on both ends? And why haven’t the Lakers extended his contract yet? They got into all that and more. But before they got to that, Anthony and Harrison wanted to address the latest free agency rumors about Alex Caruso, who reportedly may get offered the full mid-level exception. How much would Anthony and Harrison pay for Caruso, and do they think the Lakers will be able to keep both him and Schröder? They debated all that — and discussed the future of breakout Lakers star Damian Jones — and more on our latest show. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen, and Anthony at @AnthonyIrwinLA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lakers were off today and haven't done anything newsworthy since releasing Quinn Cook, so Sabreena and Christian went a little off-book for today's episode. LeBron James is once again GM of Team LeBron for this year's All-Star Game, and the draft for the teams will be held on March 4. In anticipation of that event, Sabreena and Christian did a mock draft of this year's teams and give their best picks for this year's skills competitions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Lakers have lost four games in a row, with their 114-89 embarrassment against the Utah Jazz basically being two and a half quarters of garbage time following a mostly competitive first frame. Yes, Anthony Davis and Dennis Schröder have missed time, but this team shouldn’t be this bad, should it? That’s the question we tried to answer on our latest episode of the Silver Screen and Roll postgame show. Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin started out the show with the caveat that this loss was basically the same story as the last several, and that trying to glean any new analysis from it was basically an exercise in futility. What continued, however, were a few trends that have plagued the Lakers’ all season: Their horrible 3-point shooting, and their recent issue of allowing their opponents to hit too many threes of their own. Are either of those things reason for concern moving forward? To some degree yes, but Harrison also provided some context on last year’s team, and how this isn’t actually that big of a drop from the defending champs’ previous 3-point shooting woes. After discussing all that, Harrison and Anthony dove into the Lakers’ second-half schedule, and how tough of a slate they have coming up to round out their run to the playoffs. A run that will all come while the team is as tired as ever, and facing eight back-to-backs over their final 35 games to boot. Finally, they wrapped up the show with a plea for LeBron to consider taking it easy if things keep going this way, and for the team to make sure he stays healthy for the playoffs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Anthony and Jas kick things off by discussing the Lakers' recent 1-4 slide and what might be causing the downturn in their performance. The guys question if Frank Vogel should limit LeBron James' minutes and if it would be good to give him some time off during the season. Following that, they get into the Lakers' shooting woes and how the team can improve its offensive production. Then, Anthony and Jas discuss some of the Lakers that are struggling and why the team likely won't turn things around until Anthony Davis returns. The guys also share some quick thoughts on how the Wednesday game against the Utah Jazz could play out. To wrap things up, Anthony and Jas talk about how much the team needs the upcoming All-Star break and how they think the Lakers will respond after a week off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Alex Padilla and Alex Regla discuss the Lakers 3 game losing streak. How the team has fared without Anthony Davis. What they want the Lakers to improve as they head to into the toughest 4 game stretch of the season. Plus how or if the Lakers can give LeBron James more rest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's episode, Jacob and Christian empty the mailbag, which is filled with questions about how the Lakers can improve their roster before the trade deadline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices