Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - BONUS MINI-EPISODE: Jaxson Hayes Suspended for Shoving Wizards Mascot! (Seriously.)

Starting point is 00:00:00 Jackson Hayes suspended by the league for an altercation with a mascot. Seriously, this happened. I'll tell you what this very strange story means for the Lakers coming up next. You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks for making Locked on Lakers. Your first listen every day, Monday through Friday,

Starting point is 00:00:33 sometimes on weekends, sometimes with. bonus mini shows like this one, whether you are subscribing through audio, iTunes, Spotify, whether you are subscribing to the Lockdown Lakers YouTube channel, part of a community of nearly 38,000 subscribers. And it is truly a community, fun, active folks leaving comments that we try to implement in the show. Either way, make sure you are subscribing. Either way, thank you also for helping make Locked On, the Locked On podcast network,

Starting point is 00:01:04 the number one sports podcast network anywhere. It is hugely appreciated. It does not happen without you. So again, thank you very, very much. I'm Andy Kamenetzky, co-host of the Lockdown Lakers podcast, along with my brother Brian. I have covered the Lakers for nearly 20 years with ESPN, the LA Times, the athletic, the ESPN-L-A-710 Lakers Talk Radio Show, which I do weekly for the Lakers radio affiliate. and I just wanted to give a quick update on a very strange story.

Starting point is 00:01:40 Jackson Hayes, backup center for the Lakers, having an otherwise really good season, probably his most consistent as a Laker in his three seasons here, if not flat out his best. He's going to be in the dunk contest during the All-Star break after doing the East Bay Funk Dunk. He has also now been suspended by the league. It has been announced for one game,

Starting point is 00:02:03 this Thursday against the Sixers in LA because he shoved the Wizards mascot during the pregame intros for those wondering why Brian and I have not commented on this before. It's because neither one of us was aware that this took place. Quite frankly, I had no idea that the Wizards even had a mascot until today. His name is G. Wiz. That's what he looks like. kind of as if Grover and the Cookie Monster had a baby, or he looks kind of like he just wandered off the Jim Henson Studios lot,

Starting point is 00:02:42 got lost, and the Wizards took him in as a foster pet. They failed, and he's been there ever since. But regardless, during this thing that happened, he was in the pregame warmups, running around the court with an oversized banner, a lot of other celebrants around, part of the pregame festivities. And as G. Wizz passed Hayes on the bench, Hayes gave him a legit shoulder check. Might have knocked G. Wiz into some other Wizards celebrants. I'm not quite sure.

Starting point is 00:03:19 I have zero idea what prompted Hayes to do this. I like to think in his mind, he was doing his version of the Lopez Brothers thing where a player and a mascot fake fight, like Robin Lopez in particular, did this shtick a lot. Of course, it only works if the mascot is in on it, aware, like part of the act. Or maybe Jacks in a moment of, frankly, losing his mind or common sense thought it would be a funny joke to shove the mascot. And it's a joke that went really wrong. I'd like to think that this was not the mascot running too. close to Jackson Hayes and Hayes getting legitimately upset by him running too close and he reacted

Starting point is 00:04:09 by shoving the mascot because it bothered him like if that's the reaction it's ridiculous, it's unprofessional and it is deserving of a suspension. Either way, it is bizarre. I'm sure Hayes will comment on this at some point. When he does, Brian and I will share his comments, we'll react to them. But in any event, the Lakers are not going to have Hayes on Thursday for a game against the Sixers. And this could matter. The Sixers are playing much better of late. They're on a five-game winning streak. It's not a murderer's row of wins. They beat a Warriors team without Steph Curry or Jimmy Butler. They beat a Clippers team that didn't have Kauai Leonard. They beat the Pelicans. They beat the Kings. And they beat the Bucks without Yannis. So these are not great teams. But they did also

Starting point is 00:04:58 recently beat a full-strength Rockets team. And either way, like they've been playing well, Joelle Embed is currently listed as day-to-day with ankle and knee maintenance. But assuming he plays, man, his January was strong. He looked really, really good. And Philly has size in general. Like old friend Andre Drummond is there, a Dembona. They're kind of like third center. slash power forward, big forward. The Sixers are really good on the offensive glass in particular, an area where the Lakers are just parenally weak. And without Jackson Hayes available,

Starting point is 00:05:43 it means either more Drew Timmy, who has not been playing nearly as much lately, any Maxie Kleba, who JJ clearly does not want to play at all, unless he absolutely has to. It could mean going smaller for extended minutes, which the Lakers have done successfully at times, but they have to really be on point while doing that, particularly if they are giving up size during a lot of those possessions.

Starting point is 00:06:10 It will also put a huge pressure on D'Andre Aiton not to get in foul trouble against Mb, because then they have to shift to whatever is plan B that much quicker. Who knows is even going to be on the Sixers or the Lakers? after this game, which takes place a handful of hours after the trade deadline ends. But from a pure matchup standpoint on Thursday, it's not an ideal one to be down Jackson Hayes. So we will be back later Wednesday night with a full show.

Starting point is 00:06:44 Again, thank you to everybody for being here. Thanks whether you're listening. Thanks, whether you're watching. Either way, do be subscribing. And we will see everyone later on tonight.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - BONUS MINI-EPISODE: Jaxson Hayes Suspended for Shoving Wizards Mascot! (Seriously.)

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