From Media Day to Suns Showdown: Lakers Open the Season | Lakeshow

From Media Day to Suns Showdown: Lakers Open the Season | Lakeshow

Hello and welcome to the Lake Show podcast. Del Clifton, Chris McGee, Mike Brazahan, three best friends that anyone could have. We are here back with you. The season is upon us. Hi. Hi. It is official. It is official. Media day. Practice. Practice. Practice. G. I know you. First game coming up. Yeah. Tomorrow, Friday. I know you love the preseason, GE. So, I know when I was at practice today, Yes. and you asked JJ and Luca and Gabe Vincent who spoke to the media about like what’s success in in the preseason and they all were just like Luka was laugh. He’s like I’ve never been asked that before. That’s what that question. Yeah. Luka was like there’s nothing like right. He’s like don’t get injured. He’s like don’t get injured. Yeah. Like he’s like no one the game’s mean. Absolutely. Wins and losses is what he meant. These games don’t mean anything. Ally, this might have been before your time, but but how did the NBA ever have eight preseason games? Oh, no. I think that was like my first year in the first year. Yeah. And my last the first year at this network, 2012. I am I am You might call me on this. I think there was 43 preseason games that lasted four months. At least that’s what it felt like. That was my first year in the league. 2012. Yeah, it did. There there was eight. Everyone had eight. It was It was long. Lakers used to Lakers went 0 and eight. And we thought that wasn’t a big deal. It was. Right. Right. It was Lakers used to go to like Fresno for preseason games. They’d have them in Bakersfield. I mean, San Diego. Um, so those are the days. And if the NBA ever does expand its regular season schedule, it’s pretty evident how they can do that. Just subtract a few more, you know, maybe like two to four preseason games, add them to the regular season schedule, nobody would complain. What Luca did say, guys, was that how excited he is for the regular season. That’s why the preseason is important. Oh yeah, there’s only one rule when it comes to the preseason. There’s only one rule. Don’t get hurt. Healthy and don’t go to overtime. That’s it. Don’t go to overtime is a big one because you got all the post games. Do not go to overtime. Do not go to overtime. Uh before we get to the regular season, death overtime, right? No playing. Just just just first basket wins. That’s dumb. I mean, knock on wood. Before we get to the regular season though, media day, first day of school vibes always. Who were you guys most excited to talk to about their off season? We had the desk. you had off to the side with a couple of guys as well. Bes, we’ll start with you. Um, you know what? I think it was pretty cool to see. Uh, okay. So, how it breaks down is you you basically get the top eight to 10 guys at the at the desk. 10. Yeah. The rotation guys, you know, and I kind of get like a Gabe Vincent and a Dalton Connect guys who will be in the rotation. Just not quite sure how it’s going to shake down. Um, I think talking to Dalton Connect was pretty cool. You know, he had a really rough uh second half of the season. What did he say about that? You know, I I didn’t ask him about that directly. Um, I did notice that he’s a lot more he just seems more uh he’s less like naive than he was a year ago. Like every any rookie who walks into a Laker media day for the first time, always like a wideeyed like kind of blown away. Yeah. Yeah. Not not really deer in the headlights because they’re not scared, but definitely a deer leaving the the forest maybe for the first time. And I feel like this time he was much more um Yeah, this is great. You know, he felt more like he’s a veteran now in only his second year. Uh I I shared this with you at the desk when I joined you late in the media day show. I said to him, I said, “Hey, so what did you do during offseason? Did you tinker with your shot at all? Did you switch anything?” And it was almost like insulting. Yeah. You know, you don’t ask a shooter if they if they switch their shots. Absolutely not. I get buckets. He’s like, “No, no, I didn’t change a thing. I just got a lot of shots. Actually, I’m really good at shooting.” I’m like, “Yeah, I’ I’ve been around Lakers 21 years as a media member. That’s one of my worst questions.” Probably you don’t ask a shooter what you do. I know what you mean, Brad. like, “Hey, would you just trying to see what he worked on guys?” Yeah. Who was it? Do a few years ago who who did something during the offseason and his shot, you know, was changed. But yeah. Yeah. That’s some some of the questions you like to have back. That was one of them. Wasn’t he the one that you said, “You seem down.” That that was that was DLO. Yeah. Lakers were in a real weird place. It was late in the year. Bre said. That’s one of my favorite questions. He goes, “You seem up.” DL postgame was not really having any of us asking questions. And after a loss, you always you always have to be respectful of a team after a loss. And I kept asking questions and other people would join in and he’d give like no, yes, maybe answers. Finally, I just said, “You seem down.” And he said, “Well, you seem up.” And and a legendary exchange was I am. Season’s almost over. Yeah. Well, I’m glad you painted that picture of like a beautiful Bambi leaving the woods for the first time. That was that was nice. I think for me, Ally, um, and I’ve said this before, obviously, when we get a chance to talk to LeBron to open up media day, this is now the eighth time, it’s always pretty special. You never know when the last one’s going to be. We tried to kind of bait him into that at the end. That was a fun moment. We did. That was classic. We, no, you that was all you, my friend. That was very genius. So, he was amazing. Like, I can’t tell you how many people have commented just on his great mood and just how much fun he had. and uh he was awesome in his interview with what he gave us. The other guy I was really looking forward to talking to and he did not disappoint was Marcus Smart. I had never spoken to Marcus Smart. I remember because we did a lot of summer shows that year because we had the draft lottery and we had the seventh pick and we were doing mock fake drafts in here all the time. And a lot of times Marcus Smart was going seven to the Lakers. Sometimes he’d go six to Boston, sometimes he’d go five. he ended up going six to Boston and you just never thought that you’d get a chance to ever, you know, uh, cover him at all and now he’s here and, uh, that was really exciting and he he understands where he’s at. He he understands how close he was to becoming a Laker and he just understands the magnitude of the rivalry and what it means to wear that jersey and he’s now worn, you know, Celtics jersey and a Laker jersey. So, I’m super excited for him and we’ll probably talk later, you know, about him a little more, but that one was cool for me. I feel like those those two Luca is always great, but like I was really looking forward to Marcus. He took your Celtics jokes pretty well, too. He did. He did. Well, I told him like, “We we hated you and we yelled at you and screamed at you and now we can embrace you because he was on the other side and probably felt the same way about everyone with the Lakers.” I mean, how many fbombs have we thrown at Marcus Smart on the TV? Yeah. I love the moment with um big game and Jake Loravia asking him listening to Jake talk about his father being a lifelong Laker fan and asking him his name shouting him out you could just see Jake’s eyes light up and he was just like my dad’s going to love that that I agree with you on Marcus Smart on LeBron of course we’re going to talk about golf in a second but just from a cool calm collected I think we all felt this way Bronny James yep impress just the yeah the his demeanor his chill vibe his energy but also no matter what was said about him all the opinions, all the expectations from last season. You could tell that he locked in on what was most important and that was his mentals and taking the approach of JJ and the plan laid out, the reps, the opportunities, no matter where they came. Um, and he was just awesome. If you asked me what I thought the coolest part of media day would be, I think people would be surprised, but my number one answer would be what you just said. Yeah. I don’t know what it was. if it was the because he closed. You’re coming off uh a great day where everyone feels good. You feel good as a as a company, as a network, you know, everyone’s involved that we work with. Everyone’s crushing it from the producers to everyone here to everyone on site. Our whole crew is there. It’s awesome. Super fun and everyone feels good. But Bronnie closed it and like, you know, the year before he’s a rookie. He’s under the microscope. He’s with his dad and he crushed it that day, too. And that was a huge moment for us to have them both a year ago on set. But him by himself like a new man, so to speak, like, “Hey, I’m here.” I’ve played here. I’m no longer a rookie. And just the way he answered, the way he talked, the way he had fun. I was literally remember when James like said something to him, like I was kind of like I was like I was just thinking the same thing. Like what I was thinking was, man, he could do whatever he wants when he’s done playing basketball. Whatever he wants. It’s incredible. so poised, like charismatic, like am I crazy? And like his dad actually pointed out last year, he could actually be doing whatever he wants right now and yet he’s here because he loves the game. It’s actually a great point. Yeah. When you were 20, I know you you were raging at Sea Sun. I mean, I was at Wisconsin trying to sneak in fraternity. My roommate Cam Green, who’s here right now, by the way. He’s he’s watching us shoot this. Yeah. Uh yeah, I was I was not ready for for the spotlight, Brett. That’s for sure. Who corrupted you between you and Cam? Oh, I I corrupted him. when he was much younger. Much younger. But but I I uh Yeah. I mean, at 20, I mean, are you kidding me? I was worried about like trying to get a free sandwich from My Hero at Northridge before a volleyball game, right? Like I going to the college in what pitch of beer I was going to drink. Like I had absolutely zero clue about the world. And this this young man has he’s light years. Really impressive. Yeah. Testament and kudos to him. He’s playing well practice too so far this week. Which leads us in. It wasn’t just NBA media day. Lakers media day. more busting out the my hero. I love that true story. Tomato salad and turkey. Amazing tomato salad. He made this the uh Howie was his name. He owned it. He would give us free sandwiches before NIL was this early 90s. You weren’t even born yet. And uh tomato salad was like this tomato like salad that he would put on the sandwiches. We go turkey tomato salad. That sounds so good. I want Jimmy Johnson freaky fast. I want it next. Um it wasn’t just Lakers and NBA media day on Monday. It became the golf channel in case you guys missed it cuz that was another major topic for us at the Dun to watch. So I have a question for you. We should actually put this on X. I think it would be a great poll. Who do you guys think would win in a scramble match? You’ve got LeBron and Austin Reeves. Yeah. Versus Big Game and Bronny. Saw that. And can we make this happen? We need to broadcast this. You said we’re doing a scramble. God, that’s good. Which means, you know, you’re you’re hitting from where the best shot is. Okay. I feel like AR can carry LeBron in that situation. I feel like James and Bronny are going to hold their own. And if it’s a match play and we’re getting strokes for big game and Bronny, I know I’m going deep golf here. I think they have a shot, but if you’re going to scramble style, I I just I mean I I think we put that on Spectrum Sports Net. We run this at go at Mountain Gate and we get this going. But I’m going with AR and I’m going with Braun and And I think James gonna James has played with AR. I think he he’d agree with me. Yeah. I think I think we do this. But I think we do it. That’s a great point. And I’m catty with it’s best ball, right? So you just go to the the best. Yeah, there is a best ball format which is a little different, but scramble. Yeah, you caddyy. I’ll drive the cart. Okay, deal. And pour the drinks. Um then we’ll go to my hero afterwards. Talk to Howie. My hero. A real thing. All right. Training camp is underway. First preseason game tomorrow, Friday night. Spectrum Sports Net. We got you. Um we could potentially see some of the Lakers new additions. You got DeAndre Aton, you got Marcus Smart, you got Jake Laavia. Um, which guy do you guys think we’ll start here will be the biggest X factor? So, we won’t see Marcus Smart tomorrow. It’s not gonna play probably both preseason. We know that. I think next week we’ll see him. But, I do think he and DeAndre Aton. I’m going to put these two guys as 1A 1B because to me I I I don’t know Ally who I would pick if you were forcing me. They are my two X factors. They are the new additions, but they just those guys have to be what we hope and what we know they can be for this Laker team to win. And and Luca was asked at practice about DeAndre Aton and the pick and roll and all, but but what a successful year looks what does that mean for DeAndre Aton and what does that mean for everyone? And Luca was like, he’s really important to this team. If he has a great year, that’s great. like we’re winning games basically is what yeah the Lakers are are good if he’s having a great year Lakers are in they’re above the line and they’re they’re in that top six probably top four and it’s good personally for him because he could be a free agent then he could make some make another back I’m sorry you had uh DeAndre 1A or or I don’t know I don’t know I I I don’t know I don’t know it’s definitely those two or those are just my two that I’m most like I think they’re X factor yeah I mean maybe Lavius the bronze medalist in that group but I’m going to go with Marcus is smart just because we haven’t seen enough of him the last couple years because of health. He’s had some injuries. He’s bounced around a couple different teams. Uh left the Celtics obviously that that was big news a few years ago now. And so if he can give this team 70 games, I mean, which is about what he’s played combined the last two years. If he can give him 70 this season, I I think that’s that’s that’s a great starting point for him because I think I think the ability will be there. Um he’s not he’s not scrimmaging yet. eat. He was doing uh stuff off to the side, individual drills yesterday. I assume more the same today. Like you said, we’re not going to see him Friday in the preseason opener. Probably not Sunday either. He’s my X-factor. He’s my one. And I’ll put DeAndre too. I kind of think, first of all, DeAndre is younger, and I think he’s going to get his 15 points and his 10 rebounds in his sleep. And so I think I think we know we’re going to get from him. Not bad options to have to rank. Right. Right. Speaking of ranking, last week ESPN did their I love these annual top 100 players in the league. Saw this. Yeah. Crazy. I was read I saw the top 10. They kind of cliffhanger there. Was ranked eighth best player in the league. Luca Donic was ranked third best. SGA ranked number two. Joic, Nicole Joic at number one. First of all, we’ve actually talked about this a lot. He’s about to be 41 years old. When was the last time a 40-year-old was considered a top 10 player in the league? Never. Never. It’s never happened. It’s never happened. Even like a 38-year-old, you know, you’re getting up there player in the league. No. Okay. A valuable player in the league. That is the correct answer. So, we’re going to take it one step further because there are other leagues. Tom Brady. Any league. Okay. I Well, that wasn’t the first question. You guys were correct. Now, let’s take it one step further. Got it. Yeah. Is that who you have to go to? I was going to say Tom Brady because listen, he was he won a Super Bowl in his 40s when he was in Tampa Bay and he was still that dude. I would have to go Tom Brady is the one guy that I’m thinking off the top of my head in baseball. Those guys can play a little bit longer. Trying to think at 40. Um I don’t think Jeter was still those kind of guys. Yeah. Were they effective or playing at that? Wasn’t Braun considered number 10 last year? Yeah. I was So it’s funny. I was wondering the big headline for me was that he was eighth. was because ESPN notoriously will do something stupid I know with their rankings to get everyone w I remember Kobe they put him in some crazy spot that a lot but the fact that they put LeBron eighth is them basically saying we can’t slight you at all. Yeah. Yeah. You’ve proven this time and time again. You you’re we’re I hope you’re happy with eighth cuz that’s where we’re putting you. Yeah. He’s going to be that rare guy who goes out at the top of his game. I feel like John Elway did that. Yeah. Pton Manning went out winning a Super Bowl. Yep. Um I think LeBron, we’re not going to see him. He averaged what 24 25 points a game last season. Okay. Maybe he drops to 22. Uh big deal. And you’re you’re saying maybe maybe maybe he goes up to maybe AR’s usage goes up, right? Sure. Maybe DeAndre, but maybe you know Yeah. Deandre can get But 22 23, right? For sure. Yeah. It’s going to drop. 24 is a lot. You’re right. Yeah. Maybe drops a little microscopically. Yeah. Same for the rebounds and assists. He’s not going to go from 24 25 points a game to 12. Yeah. Yeah, it’s just not going to happen because remember B, he also had to carry the load. AD was hurt a lot lot at that spot. So like he was scoring big numbers when Luca came. You’re right. It you know he was 25 26. He was in that range which he could do but he didn’t have to do it every night. Yeah. And it’s Yeah, these are these are very tiny miniature drop offs at at all. Like you said, Ally, he went from the seventh best player according to the ESPN to eight this year. Oo wow. Maybe he’ll be nine next year. Wow. You know. Oo. Huge, huge drops, hu huge, huge uh dips. What you looking up? The top 10 list because I believe if I’m not mistaken, the Lakers are the only team with two in the top 10. Okay, just wanted to confirm that. Luca, yeah, only top only team with two in the top 10. That makes sense. So Luca dropped from number two last year to number three this year. Ahead of him, as we just mentioned, SGA, Nicole Joic. Okay, they deserve it. However, might be in the best shape of his life coming off that dominant Euro basket run. Could he be in a position, could you see him take that mantle as the best player in the league this season, aka win the MVP award, aka win the MVP award? Yeah. So ESPN has a bunch of lists kind of floating out there right now. We just went over one of them. Uh they they pulled their uh all their writers about two weeks ago. Uh who who are the who’s the coach of the year favorite, who’s the rookie of the year favorite, who’s the MVP favorite, and uh Luca was second on that list, I believe. Um, so you know, he’s hanging out in two and three in all these spots and, uh, it’s pretty impressive, especially if you really have LeBron as a top 10 player who was just outside the top five last year in MVP voting. Luka not eligible. He missed too many games. Especially if you have LeBron kind of pulling away from some some third place votes and second place votes because they’re they’re going to give it to a Laker when when this award is voted on seven months from now or whatever. It’s interesting if Luca really does. If he wins the MVP, put it this way, he’s gonna absolutely deserve it because you have another talented player pulling some votes away from you on the same team. I’m gonna say I’m going to answer this question and say yes, it’s possible because if you’re in that top five ranking, then you can if things break your way and you have that kind of a year that Brez is talking about, you have the ability to be the best player in the world in that season if you’re ranked in the top five in the NBA. Now, as president mentioned, a lot’s got to go right. You got to stay healthy. You got to put up big numbers and you got to win. And you got to win. I used to be on this. Yeah. But can he? Yes. Yeah. But you got to win. I used to be on this voting panel when I was at the LA Times. I guarantee the first thing, we’ve talked about this before. First thing voters do when it’s time to send in that ballot the last week of the regular season or whatever, you look at the standings. Okay, who’s where in the standings? That guy’s a good player, but his team is sixth in the in the West. No, I’m going to scratch him off. This guy’s good. He’s fourth in the West, but this guy’s just as good. His team’s going to win the West in the regular season. I’m going to go with the guy who has the better record. Winning record, team record is probably the most important consideration in my mind. And then you start looking at stats and importance to to your team. Unless you’re talking about the W. From the day he from the day he started though, you’ve talked about that because you used to vote. I’ve always appreciated that, Brett, because listen, I I complain about it enough when it comes to high school volleyball all the way till the NBA. Like, I don’t think people reward winning enough. I think individual accolades are so built on just numbers, and some of those numbers can be empty calories or because they promote a certain person, you know, or you we put someone up here, then that person’s automatically slotted into that all-American, and they don’t really look at the overall picture. Winning matters when it comes to these awards. Do you you I mean obviously if you have you know a show type type season and you hit 55 bombs and say you steal 50 bases and your team’s fourth you can still win the MVP for sure. Sure. Because you’ve had you know Russ averaging a triple double that year but winning should play into it. Should always play into it in my opinion. Shout out show. Yeah. Go Dodgers. Dodgers. Let’s go. Uh we’re going to take a quick break now. When we return we’re going to talk preseason and preseason lineups. Stick with us. Welcome back to the Lake Show podcast. I am not your host, but if you’re enjoying this show, you can check out more original podcasts from our Spectrum News journalists on the Spectrum News app. Just head to the podcast section to listen to the latest episodes. You can download the Spectrum News app on the App Store or Google Play. Well done. How was that? By the way, I’m jumping in. The reason why I took that is because it’s baseball season. It’s playoffs. The Dodgers just won the wild card. They’re heading into the divisional series. Um, and we were talking about lineups and what we liked and all that kind of stuff with, you know, guys playing in the preseason. So, it got us thinking Dodgers and it got us thinking some other things, right? So, we’re gonna go baseball theme for you. We’re gonna play the alley game. Oh my god. I know Andrew Miller didn’t tell you, but he totally This is so fun. We’re going to do the alley game. And here’s the theme. Big league, big leager or big screen. So, they were in the in a movie or they were in the big leagues. I’m going to give you characters, tell you what team they played for. Is that a movie character or is that a real life baseball player? This is gonna be really bad. His arms are already crossed, too. Dodger legend Benny the Jet Rodriguez. That is freaking Sandlock. Okay. Hey, you’re excited. So, what do I say? Big screen. Yeah, big screen. Big screen. Detroit Tigers pitcher Billy Chapel. That is big leagues. No, that’s for the love of the game. And that’s Kevin Cosner. White Socks outfielder shoeless Joe Jackson. That is a movie. A big screen. No. Well, yeah. The movie’s eight men out, but that’s a real baseball player. Shoeless Joe Jackson. Okay. So, he’s big. So, I actually wasn’t wrong. All right. Fine. Wow. And then I was going to say he’s in the movie. St. Louis stars. Cool. Papa Bell. Uh, big leagues. Big Leagues. Oh, this is New York Nights. I mean, Roy Hobs. Roy Hobs. Roy Hobs. Hit that bomb. Yeah. Movie. Yeah, that’s the natural. Okay. Robert Redford. RP. RP. Um. Oh. Oh. Henry Rowan Gartner. Cubs pitcher. Legit. Big leagues. No. Big screen. Rookie of the year. Okay. Cubs pitcher. Threefinger. Brown. Big leagues. Big leagues. Yes. Why they call him Three Fingers? Cuz he had three fingers. Three fingers. There you go. Okay. Ally. Now we’re going Cleveland Indians and Guardians. Okay. Okay. Okay. The judge, Frank Robinson. Big leagues. Yes. Nice. Yes. Yes. Brad, I won’t let you down. Brett’s panicking over there. Oh, man. Ricky Vaughn called The Wild Thing Screen. Big screen. What’s the movie? Uh, I know it. I know it. Just say it. Uh, the the major league. Okay. Nice. I wasn’t going to say I did know that. Big Oh, I mean uh outfielder Willie Maze Hayes. Big Leagues. No, big screen. Willie May Willie May playing baseball. Willie May Hayes came up short sliding into a second by six feet. Okay. Wait, so is it the big screen or big league? It’s a big screen. Yeah, Willie May is the movie character. You played by Charlie Sheen. What? I’m kidding. I’m kidding. What’s the movie though? I’m kidding. Major League. Oh, same thing. Yeah. Yeah. Charlie Sheen was uh Who was the actor? You should know this. Outfield. Yeah. No. He was a wild thing. You’re killing me right now. Okay. Uh Bob Feller. Bob Feller. Pitcher. Boom. And Bob. Indians. Bob Feller. Uh big leagues. Big leagues. Nice. Yes. By the way, it’s Wesley Snipes that played that. I said that. Okay. Um big leager or big screen outfielder? Pedro Mar. No. Sran. Pedro Serrano. Did Did he play for the Indians or was he in the movie? Do not air this. I’m just kidding. Is a picture. Nailed it. Big screen. Were you thinking Pedro Martinez for the Red Sox or the I was just saying one of the big names. Okay. So, wait, was it a big league or big screen? No, you you you got that one right. Big screen. Big screen. Big screen. Um, all right. This is so good. Catcher. Handsome. Mom and dad loved him for sure. Jake Taylor. Big Leagues. Big screen. No. Yeah, we were going to get one of them, right? So, no. He was in the movie. What? Major League. So, you’re Yeah. Yep. He always had the thing on though, so I couldn’t see him. Pretty good work right there. All That’s actually fun. I know. See, give Andrew a round of applause. That was kind of our very clever baseball October theme. Yeah. And then we wanted to do Major League. It’s gonna be Halloween. Yeah. Yeah. I won’t be here during Halloween, by the way. So, Charlie Sheen was in Charlie Sheen was in uh Major League. Yes, he was. Yeah, he was Wild Thing. He was a Wild Thing. Yeah. Yeah, we got that right. Okay. So, you going to take us out or what? We’ll see. How much time we have? Well, you know, 20 seconds. 20 seconds. You know what? Can the Dodgers beat the Phillies? Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Will you be going to any games? Yes. Thank you for listening to the Lakes Show Podcast. If you like what you hear, leave us a rating and review on your favorite podcast app. We want to hear from you. Alli Brez, I’m Peter. Thanks. Until next week. Until next week.

Allie, Geeter, and Brez recap their favorite moments from Lakers Media Day, pick their x-factors for the upcoming season, and discuss LeBron and Luka being ranked in the top 10 in ESPN Player poll. Then we celebrate the Dodgers advancing to the NLDS by testing Allie’s baseball and baseball movie knowledge. Plus, get a free Xumo Stream Box for six months! This offer is a slam dunk(total value of $194.99). Learn more: spectrum.com/getlakers
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*About the Show*
Want to know everything happening day in and day out with the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers? Spectrum SportsNet’s Lakers hosts Allie Clifton and Chris McGee, along with Lakers Insider, Mike Bresnahan, have covered the team for a combined 30+ years and give you all the details on the Lakeshow podcast. Our hosts bring you an entertaining weekly discussion about all things purple and gold. Stay on top of the latest Lakers news, hear in-depth conversations about the latest team stories, and get your questions answered by our hosts every week, only on the Lakeshow podcast!

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