Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Can the Lakers Build Momentum Vs. Minnesota, or was Sunday's Win a Fluke?

Episode Date: March 10, 2026

The Lakers rightly felt good about themselves following Sunday's win over the Knicks at home, playing arguably their best defensive game of the season, holding one of the league's best offensive teams... under 100 points.  For a team that had struggled mightily to play good ball against good opposition, it was a significant win in ways going beyond the standings. Now the challenge is to build on it, as another Western Conference contender comes to town. With a win over Minnesota, the Lakers could put themselves back in the top four in the Western Conference, and go a little farther not just in quieting the critics, but also giving themselves the sort of confidence boost that, if we're all being honest, would be beneficial.  Of course, who plays is a big question. LeBron James is listed as questionable, adding a bruised hip to his list of ailments.  Whether he plays or not, the Lakers will need big nights from Austin Reaves, who has been excellent in two games against Minnesota this year, and also supporting players like Deandre Ayton.    HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky    SEGMENT 1: The Lakers are trying to keep momentum going.    SEGMENT 2: What to watch for vs. Minnesota.    SEGMENT 3: Playing baby LeBron 1-on-1? Plus PT for Adou Thiero?    Everydayer ClubIf you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! TurboTax This year you’re getting a major upgrade — Intuit TurboTax now has in-person locations nationwide. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNBA QuoMake this the year where no opportunity - and no cutsomer - slips away.Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to http://Quo.com/lockedonnba. DoorDashFrom tipoff to overtime, stay in your bag and order on DoorDash.Get snacks, drinks, gear — whatever gets you through the season — delivered right to your door.DoorDash. In your bag all season long. Betterhelp This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist.  Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA.    5-Hour ENERGY Have your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at 5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a College Basketball Parlay Profit Boost.Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.   FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Lakers want to prove that Sunday's win over the Knicks was not a fluke. But then again, was Sunday's win over the Knicks a fluke? We'll find out against Minnesota. That's next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers.
Starting point is 00:00:30 First listen of Every Day Monday through Friday, sometimes on weekends, even on holidays, and now more than once a day, no matter how or where you get your podcasts. Maybe you're a Spotify guy. Maybe you're one of the legions of people who use Apple and their podcasting services. Maybe you're one of the 37,000 plus subscribers to Lockdown Lakers YouTube page. That's how you like to experience Lockdowne Lakers. No matter how you're doing it, you are helping make the Lockdowne Podcast Network,
Starting point is 00:00:57 the number one sports podcast network in this or any other known universe. I'm Brian Komeneski with Andy Kaminzki. we have been covering the Lakers for nearly 20 years with the LA Times, the SPN with the athletic. And over that time, Andy, this is always like go time. Like we are in the officially like the stretch run. It is about a month before the playoffs, give or take, you know, the conference seatings are starting to get at least a little bit more clarity,
Starting point is 00:01:31 what's at stake, game to game. this and that. And for the Lakers, this is, you know, a monumentally critical portion of the schedule against mostly teams that they're trying to jump over in the standings over the next week or so. And it starts Tuesday night with a prime time game against Minnesota. First of all, prime time, I'm going to disagree with you there because 8 p.m. Pacific time. That ain't prime by any damn stretch of the imagination. It's meant to be prime time.
Starting point is 00:02:10 It is sorry to sound like an old person. Too damn late. It begins at 11 p.m. on the East Coast. I mean, why not make it a midnight game like the Rocky Whore Picture Show or something? What the hell are we doing? It's a national TV game that begins at 8 p.m. West Coast time with even more. TV timeouts, man. It's as if they've done the time warp, Andy, and they move the game to the worst time of the
Starting point is 00:02:40 evening. Unless, of course, one of these people are her partners in which case. Right. In which case, thank you very much for your support. So we'll break down what to look for in this game Tuesday night, why it is so important, what the standings look like. We'll get into all of that, of course, the health of LeBron James and whether or not he's going to be available for the game,
Starting point is 00:03:02 what it would look like if he isn't. Big matchups in the game and all of that stuff. I do want to let people know that today's episode is brought to you by Fandual. FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a college basketball parley profit boost. Head to fenduel.com to get started.
Starting point is 00:03:17 That's fendual.com. FanDwell play your game. I guess let's start with a health update and who may or may not be playing in this monumentally important Tuesday night midnight, whatever extravaganza. A very exciting
Starting point is 00:03:35 first half for everybody in the Midwest time zone and later before they. Like wolves fans, wolves fans will not be able to stay up to watch this thing. And on top of it, you can probably hear in my voice,
Starting point is 00:03:48 I'm battling like a head cold, allergies, maybe a sinus infection, like all this stuff. Well, to be fair, like you and I are both old enough now. We're like too cranky, We're like Stadler and Waldorf.
Starting point is 00:04:00 We basically want, if we're up to me, all professional sporting events would start at 11 in the morning. And we'd be done at like one. Look, I would love that, but I'm not even demanding. I'm just saying eight. When one of your primary fan bases, like the Wolves fan base, won't be able to start this game until 10.
Starting point is 00:04:23 That seems oppressive. Like you've got one of the biggest stars in the league. I don't know everything about marketing, but that doesn't feel like the best way to do it. But anyway, rant ended. We were talking before about how this is a time, you had mentioned that this is a time of the season where there can be some type of clarity really quick
Starting point is 00:04:47 before we get to who may or may not play. It's worth noting the only clarity we have is that three through seven, the seeds in the West, are an absolute cluster bleat. Like three games separate seed three, through seed seven. Like it's bunched up super tight so every game matters.
Starting point is 00:05:03 And three to six is one and a half games. Right. And then they're losing on Monday night to Oklahoma City helps the Lakers. And that leads to the availability of LeBron James. It is the Lakers put out an injury report on Monday. And it is no surprise given that he has missed the last two games against Indiana
Starting point is 00:05:25 and against the Knicks that he would be listed as questionable. Well, he took that really bad fall against Denver. He had the elbow contusion. He's been dealing all year, really 11 years with that arthritic foot. What is interesting about this is that the injury listed with the elbow. It is listed as that same foot and a right hip contusion. I was not at practice on Monday in terms of updates or being able to ask JJ anything. I know LeBron was at practice today.
Starting point is 00:06:01 He took part in the film session and stuff. He did not take part in anything on court, but it didn't sound like it was a particularly... Nobody did. It was the only on court activity they did on Monday was the stay ready game, which LeBron does not need to play in. He is ready. No.
Starting point is 00:06:17 This is his 23rd season in the league. He's ready. It's fine. If he ain't ready by now, this whole thing has been a failure. I'm going to say he's ready. Fully ready. But there was no clarity as to whether or not this was the byproduct of that fall versus Denver, which, I mean, was a nasty fall.
Starting point is 00:06:41 Like to put in respect of how bad it was, when LeBron originally landed, I thought that his right elbow or right arm would have been hurt worse than the left one. And it's in part because of the camera angles that were available for the right versus not available for the left. Turned out it was the left, but the point being the fall was so nasty. I could have seen like 10 different injuries coming from it. I don't know if this is the byproduct of that fall or LeBron at his age woke up and something was bothering him. Like, I don't know. And to some degree, this speaks to just the general challenges of LeBron playing at this age,
Starting point is 00:07:22 managing LeBron at this age. But we have no idea if he's going to be available for this game. against the wolves on Tuesday. Yeah, and obviously that, you know, we did. And he missed it for a Monday. The afternoon show, the afternoon short show is all about whether or not the Lakers are better without him. And, you know, both of us, not to replay the episode, but both of us say no,
Starting point is 00:07:47 but there are certain things that change when he's not there. To certainly to say at least, if the Lakers do beat Minnesota, you know, take another big win against a quality opponent with LeBron the sidelines. It's not going to slow that chatter down in the slightest. I look at it, though, and, you know, this is one of those games, too, where I am very curious about the supporting cast. If LeBron doesn't play, I expect to see a lot of what we saw on Sunday from Austin Reeves, a more aggressive version of Austin, a little more freedom and a little more necessity for him to be very assertive with his offense.
Starting point is 00:08:32 I also think, you know, Austin's not stupid. He knows what the narrative was coming out of the series against Minnesota and how much he struggled against him, I think, is aware of what it looks like if he can't find a way to get shots off and things like that. So, you know, we can look at that a little bit. but games like this really also get me looking at the supporting cast. And the consistency, like when LeBron's not there, in theory, it opens up not just space for Austin, but it also opens up space for Rui to kind of breathe a little bit more.
Starting point is 00:09:11 And Luke Kinnard becomes more important, not just as a shooter, but as a ball mover. D'Andre Aiton has a really big challenge in front of him, no pun intended, with Rudy Gobert, both to try to score, but also really to keep Gobert off the glass and do all that stuff. So I am intrigued by how the Lakers supporting cast comes back and responds, home game. They should be ready to go.
Starting point is 00:09:39 I mean, they're 2 and O against the wolves this year. Granted, both games were very early in the season, and a lot has changed over the course of the season for both teams just because seasons naturally evolve. We can take a look, we can take a look back at what happened, at least in certain parts, if for no other reason, and to refresh fans as memory, because you and I cover this team for a job.
Starting point is 00:10:05 I don't remember what happened. Right. I had to refresh my memory on some of the stuff, and some of what came up was actually interesting. I don't remember what I ate for dinner tonight, let alone what happened in October or November. But let's look at it. Let's kind of get into that a little bit, looking back at what those first couple games look like.
Starting point is 00:10:27 And then I know you had a conversation with a Minnesota insider for your ESPN radio show on Monday night. So we can get into a little bit of what to look for on Tuesday. Next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by game time. And there is nothing like being in an NBA arena, the crowd, the energy, the moment. Getting tickets, though, that part is not always. been so simple. And that's why game time has become the go-to app for scoring tickets fast, without a hassle, it puts the advantage. Backer it belongs with you. The fan, regain your power.
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Starting point is 00:11:40 That's code L-O-C-E-D-O-N for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. And remember, it's gametime.com. Not.com. Quick reminder about the Everyday Air Club. If you are interested in extending the conversation that we have here on, you know, for example, the live chat during these live episodes that we do on the Lockdown Liquors YouTube channel, the Everyday Air Club could be for you. You get access to the Discord channels for Locked On that Andy and I participated in for Lockdown Lakers, but then the whole NBA, it's yours to explore. You get in touch with other fans, with other hosts.
Starting point is 00:12:24 Really just a fun way to as we get closer to the playoffs. Kind of get ready for that stuff. If you want the show ad-free, that's another little perk. The Everydayer Club allows you to do that. Five bucks a month, $50 a year. Check it out, see if it is for you. In the show notes, you can look at it there. You can go locked onlakers.supercast.com.
Starting point is 00:12:41 Again, Everyday Air Club, it's not for you. Do nothing. We love you just the same. So, oh, yeah, that's right. Hearts. So you mentioned, Andy, those first couple of games. They did come very early in the season. Those were two of the early season tests that the Lakers passed, that we were all like,
Starting point is 00:13:04 maybe this seems a little better than we thought. If you wouldn't mind a little refresher, I would certainly appreciate it. Yeah, to begin, we talked about Austin because the first round series against September was last year left a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of Laker fans about Austin, including also Austin himself did not feel particularly good about that. we found out later. There was a toe injury going on. But in the first two games, or the first two games that they played early this season against the wolves, and they are two and oh against the wolves. They already have the tiebreaker.
Starting point is 00:13:37 This is about the standings at this point and just trying to. Right. And just for reference, if the Lakers win on Tuesday, they will be in a functional tie in the standings with the wolves, which would mean they would functionally be ahead of them. In game one against the Timberwolves where Luca Donchich did play, and Luca, by the way, had 49 in that game, kind of went off. That was the second game of the season. Austin had 25 points, 9 of 15 from the field, 11 assists against one turnover. So pretty good. The second game they played, also a win. It was 116, 115. I do not remember. Austin's had a game winner this year. I don't remember if that was it or not. But Austin, in that game,
Starting point is 00:14:23 9 of 24 from the field, but he did get to the line seven times, made all seven of them. And this was pretty impressive, 16 assists against three turnovers. So he did a terrific job in that game in a super high usage role, setting up others, even if his own efficiency from the field was not there. He also had two steals. So I would notch those two games as successes for Austin. Now, again, we're reaching way back early in the season. There's been a lot that has changed since then.
Starting point is 00:14:58 Austin, the Knicks performance notwithstanding has been through a rougher patch, so I know people want to see more. But if you're looking to refresh your memory with Austin on that one, that's how we played. DeAndre Aitin in two games against the wolves. He has averaged 16 points, nine rebounds, three on the offensive glass, and one and a half assists shooting 11 shots per game. 68% from the field.
Starting point is 00:15:25 Now remember, both of those were also early in the season, both without LeBron, one of which was without Luca. And also when D'Andre Aiton was at his most absolute engaged, some would say on his best behavior, others would say just overloaded on crunch juice. But either way, D'Andre Aiton was playing really, really well during that period. and I think the last couple games, Aiton has actually done a good job. But it's a prime time matchup between, you know, Rudy Gobert for all of the crap that he takes. And he is as disliked a player in the league, whether you're talking among peers or among fans.
Starting point is 00:16:10 The wolves have been really good ever since they made that trade that everybody crapped on. And Rudy Gobert is still one of the best defensive players in the league. he's still one of the best rebounders in the league. You know, D'Andre Aitin that matchup against Rudy Gaubert is going to matter. Yeah, Gobert's got lower favorability ratings than Congress, which is hard to do. But I maybe not these days. No, even still. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:16:38 It's, I know I am very aware of how unpopular. I'm not advising Rudy Goberer run for office. I'm just saying his favorability might be better. No, I don't think it is. And that's bipartisan. That's the one thing we all agree on right now is that nobody likes Rudy Gober. I look at this this way. And I do want to, it's like a minor detour here about D'Andre 8.
Starting point is 00:17:04 Like it's a small version of what you and I talked about a lot last year, especially, you know, in the year before that regarding Anthony Davis. It's a different version of this, in my mind at least, where like the bar, and I feel like the goal. posts moved on AD a lot. Like, you know, and the people who didn't want AD to be a success or didn't want him to kind of seem like he was meeting expectations would just move them to wherever, you know, they needed to be so AD would always fall short. Obviously, Aiton is not AD or anywhere close. But, you know, the, the Clint Capella thing got lots of attention in part because everybody's
Starting point is 00:17:46 like, geez, we'd love it if you were Clint. Capella. Like, go be Clint Capella. Like, that would be incredible if you could defend the lane with Capella's enthusiasm and play hard all the time like Capella does and, you know, finish some lobs and do all that stuff. So one thing to remember, especially now, is that Capella is not like a massive stat builder. You know, it was probably a pretty good player. I'm not trying to, to discount him. I mean, I don't, look, I don't know which version of Clint Capella, the Andre Able was talking about to be on. I think he was talking about today's sort of older version, but like the point is everybody's reaction was correct. Like, dude, that's what we want you to be. Like go, but that, that being the
Starting point is 00:18:34 case, like there were people who look at, you know, Sunday's win, for example, where he had six points, eight rebounds, and a block. And you can look at me like this guy, you know, or we watched Shaq rip on him at halftime, you know, for not demanding the ball and all these other. That was the worst shack impression. Yeah, mine was better the day before. That was terrible. That was just a terrible shock impression. You got business, no business.
Starting point is 00:18:58 Making fun of me at all. To make the ball. But that's, nope, still. No, stay in your lane. That's not it. Nope. I can only do Mitch. But like, if the, if the ask is dirty work, play hard,
Starting point is 00:19:16 and, you know, and do that stuff. Do Clinton, you do the best version of Clinton Pella that you can. Then when the box score isn't jumping off the page, but you watch the game, you're like, dang, Aiton was engaged, and he was active and he was closing out on shots, and he was covering guys in the perimeter. And like, you know what, Carl Anthony Town struggled one-on-one again. So, like, you got to give him credit for that.
Starting point is 00:19:44 And so I think the Lakers would love it. if he was able to put up 10 to 15 shots a night and make 70% of them and average 15 and 10, they basically win every game when he gets 15 and 10. I think they would love it. But especially when everybody's healthy, that's not there. So if we could all kind of create a framework for us to be like, this is a good DeAndre Aitin performance
Starting point is 00:20:08 and try to leave that goal post where it is, I think that would be beneficial for kind of discussing, what's going on with this team? And like what's a good game? What's a bad game? What does JJ need to do? What doesn't he need to do? I guess to some degree,
Starting point is 00:20:25 I don't know how much the goalposts, to be honest, have really moved on DeAndre Aiton, to be perfectly honest. I think they began moving when he began playing worse. No, no. When he'll stay in the same place,
Starting point is 00:20:36 he just kept falling farther and farther behind. My point is if he's going to do, I think everybody can just adjust their criteria for how we're judging. I don't even be pretty well against Indiana too. I wouldn't. I thought he did too. I wouldn't.
Starting point is 00:20:51 Here's what I would say. I wouldn't get caught up in the Clint Capella comp because up till that point, nobody had made that comp to begin with other than DeAndre Aiton. It's not like people had been calling all season for DeAndre Aiton to channel his inner Clint Capella. Part of why it got attention was it was so effing random to begin with. I would say for the most part, just like, for example, when you were saying if people saw the Knicks box score and thought DeAndre Aiton had another non-effective, non-impactful game, I would say they weren't watching, and I would probably include Shaq in that, even though he was paid to watch the game.
Starting point is 00:21:32 No, but they probably, that's been long. Right. So I would say if you watch, if you watched that game, six points, eight rebounds, I think a block or two from Aiton, he played very well. Well, not all 6.8 rebound games are created the same. You ultimately have to watch it all. And I think a lot of this just has to do with how hard do you see Aiton playing regardless of the numbers? If he brings the energy and he brings that after the same effort against Minnesota on Thursday, I mean, JJ, the Lakers are trying to get him going again.
Starting point is 00:22:03 They're trying to create some level of consistency out of him. And I think the role is evolving to the point where even when he's playing well, He's not going to play more than 25 minutes a night. I think at most nights he's going to play 20-ish, 20 to 25. You know, Jackson is going to get some minutes. They're going to go small, some minutes. Maxie might find some minutes in the right matchup. But I don't think they're going to try to play him,
Starting point is 00:22:29 you know, 28, 30, 32. And just be like, go really hard for these 20 to 25 minutes a night. And that is what we'll need. JJ did talk a little bit about Aduthiero, who is somebody that Lakers fans have been clamoring to get a view of over the course of the season. So we'll tell you what he said about him next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by TurboTax.
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Starting point is 00:24:52 They're good this year. Head to fanduel.com to get started. That's fanduel.com, fan duel, play your game. So before we get into what JJ said about Thero, normally you and I both agree that the social media is a wasteland and generally speaking terrible for humanity. But, you know, it often does come up with some fun things that, including what I saw flipping through today, there was somebody posted ages zero through 41. At what age could you know, like for LeBron, at what age could you no longer beat him one on one in a game to seven?
Starting point is 00:25:35 So like, could you beat, you know, one year old LeBron, two-year-old LeBron, three, at what age would you no longer be able to beat LeBron in a game of one-on-one? Well, I got to get him out of diaper.
Starting point is 00:25:52 It's just out of self-respect. I mean, I can't... How about this? I'm just going to start naming ages and you tell me when you think you no longer could beat him. Right. You now.
Starting point is 00:26:02 It's not you and your athletic peak. Right now. I know. Yeah. Zero. Yeah, I can beat him before he was born. Yes, I could beat him.
Starting point is 00:26:11 One. I mean, unless Gloria was a hell of a baller, I can compete. You versus newborn LeBron. I agree. Yes, I win. All right. One. I win.
Starting point is 00:26:23 Two. I win. Three. I win. Four. I win. Five. I win.
Starting point is 00:26:30 Six. I win. You're not so sure anymore. Seven. I need. Here's the problem. I mean, other than the fact that LeBron. is one of the most gifted athletes in the history of humanity,
Starting point is 00:26:46 and that's not an exaggeration at all. I don't know how tall LeBron was when he was. You should mention that. I actually looked that up because I was curious about that myself. So I was unable to find out information about how tall LeBron was at like age six. Right. But he was. Sports Illustrated, haven't gotten there.
Starting point is 00:27:11 hooks and I hadn't gotten there yet. He was 5-7 when he was 11. Oh, and it's definitely under 11. So, okay, so I'll go back over. Where were we six? You started to, you started to hesitate at six. Well, if he was five, seven at age 11, that means he's maybe like four, ten at age six or something like i'm i'm still taking me but i'm i'm really nervous about this one on one seven i bet by seven lebron was already a pretty gifted basketball player i'll take me just out of self-respect for seven i think eight i'm cooked i mean like i think his hand i think his handle assuming lebron has any type of handle The question is just whether or not you could back them down into the post.
Starting point is 00:28:10 And like, now, and I would say you could also, if you wanted to, you know, go to like, I bet eight-year-old LeBron was unusually strong. Yeah, I bet. And you, I would say even at your basketball, Pete, you were decent, good athlete, but you're never a good basketball player. No. So you think eight is probably the cutoff. I guess. I mean, if nothing else, I'm.
Starting point is 00:28:34 I'm starting to think of like, what is the oldest that I could still intimidate LeBron? Because he sees me as like, you know, a teenager or, you know, like when you're like seven, anybody who's older than you seems like a grown-ass man. So LeBron might have been in, I need to know the age where LeBron started playing with older kids, because that really could. The answer to that is like four. Well, okay. But I mean, like, started to, I still think I could take LeBron when he was four.
Starting point is 00:29:03 But like, I could, I don't think there's going to be a time when the kid from Akron, so to speak, was ever intimidated by you. Okay, here's what I would say. And Blu-ray has this correct. Once he hits puberty, it's over. Oh, you're not getting to people. Like, here's, okay. I would say, I would give myself eight at the absolute latest. It's probably pushing my luck. Right. You and I, neither one of us were particularly good basketball players. I was better than you. I think maybe if he's, if he was five, seven at 11,
Starting point is 00:29:39 I can't beat a five foot seven, 11 year old LeBron. Not a, not a chance, even at my basketball peak, not a prayer. No. I'm wondering if I could beat like five foot two,
Starting point is 00:29:51 nine year old LeBron. I don't think so. That's assuming he's five, two at nine. I don't think I could. I think he would smoke me. No, the minute LeBron starts developing,
Starting point is 00:30:03 any type of handle and is old enough to have any degree of muscle whatsoever because he's obviously going to be unnaturally tall for his age because he'd always been super, super tall. And the man is 6.8. That's really tall. Like he's, yeah. I was just, I just saw this. And I was like, that is a fascinating question. And like the people who think that they, I could take him until he was about 14. Hell you could. No, you couldn't. not. Anywho, like, just a reminder, these people are from another planet, guys who grow up to be, guys, anybody who's ever played a sport with somebody who eventually became a professional
Starting point is 00:30:43 athlete, you know, like, they're just different when you're little. If you play it even more different when they, as you're growing up, refer to you as the chosen one, you're even more different. Look, I played football against a few people who played college football. Right. And, you know, they didn't become pros or anything close to pros. They didn't play it like the U, but they played college football. You could see the difference then for a guy just going to play for like Army or something like that, like the difference.
Starting point is 00:31:13 No, it's insane. The E. Koshan 97 points out. So in other words, 11-year-old LeBron is brawny now. Kind of. Like freshman year, I think LeBron was already six feet tall. So in that sense. Yes. Anyway, JJ was asked about Addu Thierro.
Starting point is 00:31:31 who had a fantastic game in the G earlier. I think it was over the weekend. But he had 25 points and he had some block shots and he had some threes and he was just, he looked really, really good. And, you know, it's funny. Like I have a friend who, you know, texts me, he's a just diehard Laker fan.
Starting point is 00:31:51 Text me every game. Every game. I don't even have to text him back. I get probably 25 texts a night. And he's always talking about Thero. Like the, the imagination of diehard Laker fans around what he could be, especially given the total lack of athleticism on this team.
Starting point is 00:32:09 But JJ kind of reined on that parade of the idea that Thero is going to get a chance to contribute this season. Well, I mean, he pointed out too. Like Thero had so many injuries. Like, he didn't have a preseason. He missed a lot of the regular season. In some respects, it may not be fair to,
Starting point is 00:32:30 to Thero just in the sense of is he ready to play against these guys? But it's also may not be fair to him in the sense of is his body ready to handle extended NBA minutes? Like, you know, like two real NBA shifts. Like, you know, I know in garbage time, the guys playing out there often are playing hard because this is their opportunity to try to get more minutes or be seen by another team or, you know, try to turn their two-way contract into a big boy contract. but it's not the same level of physicality or intensity. The speed is different.
Starting point is 00:33:05 You would be putting Thero potentially in a position not to succeed. And I say this as somebody who has wanted to actually see Thero out there. But it was also earlier in the season. Like we've reached a place now where he's had so little opportunity to practice, you know, with the big club, you know, to really get. actual NBA minutes. As much as I would like to see it, like I actually truly would like to see it.
Starting point is 00:33:37 I get the reluctance unless JJ really felt like there was a specific reason to do it. It's not just to give it a whirl and see how the kid looks. No, and with everybody playing, like you said, like, you know, physically, he's played enough games. And, you know, even if he is, it's not fair to play. He's like he's not ready to play. these are like stretch minutes. These are, you know, these are the most important games the Lakers are going to play all year
Starting point is 00:34:07 where two or three or four possessions can tilt an entire game. And if he just makes a mistake, you know, basic rookie mistakes, the wrong rotation, the wrong read, you know, throws the ball away because he thinks one guy's zigging when he's actually zagging, whatever it might be. Like that can tilt the game. And it's just you are sort of set. setting him up. I can see certain scenarios where he might, you know, if guys are missing or whatever, you might want like five minutes of unadulterated insane athletic energy. But beyond those kinds
Starting point is 00:34:43 of really specialized moments, I do think it's kind of unfair to try to give him like real playing time. I like you though, I get really excited anytime he's on the floor. It's not hard to find him. Like he's what if you, everybody took the numbers and names off their jerseys, you'd have no trouble finding Thiero in with this group. I will say this, because JJ's very good at designing ATOs. I think it's actually one of his best skills as a coach. He's really good at it. If he could run some type of ATO and design it well,
Starting point is 00:35:16 I think with a lot of screens to create an open lane, where you just need to design a play where someone just yams on the basket, I would run that play for Thero. I'd seriously consider putting Thero out there for that one. Yeah, it's it would be fun and I that dude throws down with force. He is the the difference in the athleticism between Thierro and basically anybody else who plays regular rotation minutes is stunning. Lock the Lakers in YouTube. Jackson can match him. Jackson can match him but he's collar so just any like fear runs you know just like runs like seems like he's running faster it's like it's different when you're a wing.
Starting point is 00:35:55 Sure. It just looks saying Jackson's athleticism is pretty warm. 1%. Yeah, it's true. Although it still looks like Fierro is taking off out of a cannon, I think, a little more than Jackson. Again, it's because Jackson's tall. It's not his fault. Locked on Lakers on YouTubers. We're going to go hang out with over 37,000 subscribers to the channel. We'll, of course, be back in the afternoon for our mini show and be ready at two or three in the morning whenever the game ends on Tuesday night to bring you all of the post game in. We'll see everyone then.

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