Luka Doncic PROBABLE for Lakers + Wemby’s form leaves Perk speechless 👽 ‘HE’S A WINNER!’ | NBA Today

Luka Doncic PROBABLE for Lakers + Wemby’s form leaves Perk speechless 👽 ‘HE’S A WINNER!’ | NBA Today

Welcome to a chilling Halloween edition of NBA Today here from our Los Angeles studios alongside Kendrick Perkins and Chana Agum. Well, at least she’s Chana Gumay for now. I’m Malikica Andrews. We have plenty of tricks, we have treats, we have buckets throughout the show, including y’all, we got a big reveal of our Halloween costumes. It’s you are not going to want to miss. I promise you. No hints yet, but I think it’s fitting that we’re going to start our show with the alien himself because there was an extraterrestrial encounter last night in San Antonio. Before the game, Victor Wanyama, he was hitting this three court shot. It rattles off the rim and bounces back in. The friendliest bounce, but we’re not surprised, especially on this day. No, never on this day. But Wimby was on the other side of a highlight. This is rare for him. On a bioam pass him, bam, throws it down. Here’s Wy on being dunked on. That doesn’t happen very often. [Music] Until I’m getting dunked on more than I block shots, I’m going to keep going. But none of us going to live to this day. Well, Perk always says you got to play good defense to get dunked on at least a little bit. Right. Stfan Castle finds a cutting WBY getting his revenge. So underrated part of his game is cutting to the basket, moving without the basketball. Look at him. Underhanded law with a left touch finish. Been a nice addition for them. San Antonio led by 15 heading into the fourth. Miami though, what we know about soft hands crawling back into this game on a bio shen a little baby hook right here. I love the force that he’s playing with to start the season. The Miami Heat have been great behind him, anchoring it on both ends. Here come the Spurs. WBY, we saw what he did pregame hits the driving more, but in this game he was taking a couple more three-pointers. Two and a half to play. What a sequence here. Davon Mitchell blocked by Wemby. And then Webby takes it the other way. And then look at this. This is how he finishes today. A runner off the glass. What do you do, Perk? Nothing. There’s nothing you can do. All Ghostbusters cuz you don’t see that very often. Devin Vel tips it back in. We finishes with 27 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, five blocks, and the Spurs get the win. So the Spurs [Applause] The Spurs get the win. WBY gets these chance. And San Antonio, they have won five titles. They have the second best win percentage of any active franchise, but this is the first time in franchise history the Spurs have started 5-0. Here was Webby on the historic start. Feels incredible. This is years of work for all of us and now finally trying to get the maturity and to get actual wins. We’re not fans, so it feels great. Amazing. You ready for the next one? Yeah, we ready for the next one. We can’t wait to be in front of the best fans in the whole wide world. Can I get a Ghostbusters go on three? One, two, three. Ghost. I’m getting major Oklahoma City vibes from that group interview here. All right. We now has played 122 games. He’s putting up numbers that compare to the all-time greats at this stage of their career. Right. Victor has a unique set of skills. We know he can score, but he has more points than the league’s all-time leading scorer, LeBron James, through those 122 games. And his versatility, it stands out at 75. Because through those 122 games, he has more three-pointers than Steph Curry, who is the greatest shooter ever. We know Steph struggled to stay on the floor early in his career. But don’t get it twisted. We a two-way player. He has more blocks than Hakee Alajuan, the all-time blocks leader through the same number of games. So, Perk, how is he unlocked this Spurs team so far? You just got to shake your head. Yeah, because I’m speechless. That never happens. And when you look at this Spurs team, they’re young, but you know what Granny used to say? God rest us all. They young, but they got old souls, baby. They got old souls. They got old souls. Anybody that was watching that game last night saw a team that was playing unselfish basketball, losing themselves in the team, and it started with Wimby. The trust that he has in Stephan Castle, the trust that he has in Dylan Harper, the trust that he has in Vassel to all go out there and do their thing and trust them to be playmakers. I’m looking at I’m saying this is a Miami Heat team that came in hot. Yep. Right. Offensively, they held them to 101 points. And it wasn’t just Vic uh Victor Winy, but it was collectively how they’re tied together on on the stream. This man, listen, that dude is a winner. That dude is a winner and he’s trying to win now. And it’s going to be interesting to see how how De’arren Fox when he’s ready to come back slots back in with this group. But Chen, there was one possession last night that you thought sort of showcased everything that Victor’s been doing. You all, when everything’s said and done, I got to go to the big board. When everything’s said and done, Victor Webbyama will go down in the history books. He will force us to literally rewrite stats. And one of them, I don’t know, DJ DJ said earlier will be called maybe the WBY, the block to score. I want to break it down. Look at this possession right here. Web is all the way over here guarding Bam out of bio. Typically, you’re not supposed to come off of the corner shooters, but instead, Da’Von Mitchell makes a drive. He’s still able to connect. He can guard both. What does he do? He snatches the screws out of him. But on the other side, gets the block. But this is where he’s unlocked the cheat code. Look at him with the handle. Goes coast to coast. How are you supposed to guard that? Again, he had what? 278. They built the great wall of Webby. But it doesn’t matter. He’s so deped with the skill to be able to finish with a little euroep kiss it off the glass. Victor Webbyama has made 14 baskets after the Spurs have recovered the block since the start of last season and five more than any other player in this time. So block to score, he owns it and I can’t believe that he continues to do freakish, ghoullish things. It’s not going to be stopped in the NBA. We have a developing story just coming into NBA today. Luca Donic, good news for the Lakers, has been upgraded to probable for tonight’s Lakers Grizzlies game. Now, Luca has missed the last three games for LA with a left finger sprain and a lower left leg contusion. The Lakers have gone two and one in his absence thanks to the heroics from Austin Reeves. So, joining us fresh off the flight to Memphis, our senior reporter Dave McMenan. Dave, where are things trending for the Lakers? Who’s going to be in the lineup and who could be out? Yeah, Malikica, very good news for the Lakers this morning out of Memphis. Luca Dantis, who didn’t start the trip with the team, was not in Minnesota, has joined them in Memphis, and he’s been upgraded to probable to play tonight. JJ Reick said the swelling in his finger on his non-shooting hand has gone down significantly from twice the size it is normally down to 1.5 times the size it is normally. A source close to Luca told me he feels quote unquote great. And also in the lineup tonight, they should be getting back Marcus Smart, who missed the end of the Sacramento win and the last two games because of a quad contusion. Marcus told us reporters this morning that he is most likely going to play and he is also at a probable status. Obviously, this window without those guys has allowed for the Austin Reeves show to take flight. At the same time, it’s shown some adversity that the team was able to fight through. Marcus Smart said, “We’ve been resilient and we’ve shown that we have fight within that locker room. That should only serve us in the long run.” Okay, so very good news here for the Los Angeles Lakers. Luca had 92 points through his first two games with LA before he went down with injury. So there is hopeful that he is going to be back in the lineup. Dave, enjoy the game. And I have a small request, Dave, when you see the end of the show, just please stick with me because I know this is going to test you, my dear. All right. Thank you, Dave. Thank you. We appreciate the time bringing it back into real soldier right there. Yeah. Let’s talk about the Lakers though because they found a little groove here without Luca, without LeBron Chen. Austin Reeves, he’s been him, right? What do you call him? I know you love him. Go ahead. Take the floor. Austin, I am him. Reeves, right? But but here’s the thing. It’s up there and it’s stuck there for the Lakers right now. And that’s why Luke, when you get a chance, when you’re out, you get a chance to see what others are capable of doing. Yes, Austin Reeves is the big story and rightfully so, but Ru Achimar, he’s been balling. Uh, Laravio, he’s been balling. Look at the next couple games in the upcoming schedule for the Lakers. At Grizzlies, I believe that’s winnable. Now, the Heat going to be a dog fight at home. They could win that one. Portland, get your lick back. Drew Holiday playing some great basketball, but y’all should go back in there and get that one. Spurs, it’s going to be a brawl for it all. Brawl for it all. And the Hawks, y’all should go ahead and pencil that one in. You know what I mean? Go ahead and lock that one in. No Trey Young right now. Don’t know if he’s going to be back, but the Lakers having golden opportunity right now. And the biggest question is, yes, we know Luca is going to return, but what are they going to look like, right, once LeBron James True, but they have options. They have options. And that’s what they and that’s what they wanted. And to fit Luca now next to Austin Reeves, who’s been it’s been it would be appropriate if he had to dress up as Superman one more time today. But Luca was excellent to start the season. 92 points. Those are the fourth most in a player’s first two games of a season in NBA history, trailing only Wilt. And uh AD did it as well. He would need 34 in his next game to pass Jordan for the most points in a player’s first three games among players not named Wilt Chamberlain. And tonight may mean even more because it is the start of the 2025 NBA Cup. The courts are going to be courting and group play will take place on select Cup nights of the next month with the champions being crowned in Vegas. That’ll be December the 16th. So, let’s get spooky. It’s a little ghost. And we’re going to start with West Group A. All right. Y’all remember it’s headlined by the defending NBA champs, the Thunder, the Timberwolves, the Suns, the Kings, the Jazz also rounding this group out. So, Perk, who’s going to be your big winner in this group? Listen, every time the Thunder or something or they playing for something, they trying to win it all. Damn it, I’m going with the best player in the league, SGA. I’m going with the best defense in the league, SGA. They already got a championship. And by the way, they was pissed off le leaving Vegas last season after losing Giannis and the Bucks. They plan to get their lick back. Yeah, especially because they they got embarrassed in the NBA Cup in Vegas. Next is group B in the West. That includes the Pelicans, the Grizzlies, the Clippers, the Mavericks, and the Lakers. A team that can have Luka Donic, and LeBron back on the court during the tournament. So, Chenet, who takes top spot. I know there are some favorites in this. Can I do something different? Can I throw in a little bit of a sleeper? Memphis, John Mar is back, and I feel like he has the chip on his shoulder. Per, am I okay for saying this? Uh, 23 points. Still one of the most explosive players in the NBA. Triple J Darren Jackson Jr. good inside outside punch. So, I would not be surprised the team that is three and two to make some noise in this group. It’s no beef with me and J. That was just a vegan meal on the internet. You’ve never met a vegan meal in your life. The first final group in the West group C is the group of death. It is the Nuggets, the Warriors, the Rockets, the Trailblazers, and the Spurs. This is Jokic, it’s deaf, it’s KD, it’s WBY, and the Trailblazers. So, then we will go over to East Group A. Right. that both that that that group was too explosive for our graphics. The East group A is the Hawks, the Cavs, the Pacers, the Raptors, and the Wizards. Perk, your Wizards, who have struggled a little at the gate. Who’s winning this group? No, no, actually it was my Raptors. But look, okay, it was your Raptors. I’m going with the Cavs. They need They need to win this. They need some feelood. They need to act, you know, tell themselves they belong. I believe this is a perfect opportunity for us to see the best version of Donovan Mitchell to lead the team so they could actually win something after being a disappointment last season in the postseason. All right, so that was East Group A. I’m hoping we have East Group B. Thank you for bearing with us. A couple of technical difficulties. We have the best director in the business. Thank you, director Matt. The Nets, the Celtics, the Pistons, the Magic, and the surprisingly successful and currently undefeated 76ers. Janet, who takes this one? Oh man, I love the 76ers, but vroom vroom vroom. I’m all aboard the motor. Kay Kaningham, you guys saw my breakdown yesterday. The way that he is controlling the game. He plays to his tempo. He feeds his rollers. He can score from three, but he’s really good in the mid-range. He can back you down in the post. I feel like Detroit, you see teams that win the NBA Cup feel confident moving into the postseason. This might be a team to seize this opportunity. The Hornets, the Bulls, the Bucks, the Knicks, the Heat. They’re all currently top 10 teams in the conference. So, Perk, which franchise is going to come in first here? Oh, it’s going to be tough, but damn it, I’m going with Big Body Bronson. I am. Right now, he’s on the tag. He looks great. The depth is playing well. Carl Anthony Towns will start playing better. And OG Anobi, the baby Scotty Pippen is on the mission. I got the Knicks in this division. East group C1. All right, the Knicks trying to set the tone maybe for later in the season. [Music]

On NBA Today, Kendrick Perkins and Chiney Ogwumike join Malika Andrews to react to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs’ historic 5-0 start to the 2025-26 NBA season before Dave McMenamin gives an update on Los Angeles Lakers All-Star Luka Doncic’s potential return from multiple injuries.

0:00 Highlights from Heat vs. Spurs
2:37 Wemby on Spurs’ historic start
3:50 Perk is amazed by Wembanyama
5:02 Chiney goes to the Big Board!
6:08 Luka Doncic upgraded to probable
8:01 Austin Reaves’ role with Luka’s return
9:40 NBA Cup group play begins!

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