Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - JJ Redick Says the Lakers Lack an Identity (Part 1)

Starting point is 00:00:00 Do the Lakers have an identity that they can lean on in times of trouble? That's next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Lockedon Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers first listen to every day, Monday through Friday, sometimes on weekends and even on holidays. We appreciate you making us your first listen and helping make the Locked on Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network in this or any known universe. I'm Brian Kamenetsky with Andy Kamenetsky.

Starting point is 00:00:41 We appreciate you guys watching the show every day, whether you get it through Apple, whether you get it through Spotify, whether you're one of the 37,000 plus subscribers to the YouTube channel. We certainly appreciate it, Andy. And as we enter 2026, happy new year to everyone, the Lakers. to say the least, are in a tough spot. 2025 ended on a down note. And 2026 is starting with them in quite a pickle. Well, you could take the glass half full version of this because before

Starting point is 00:01:21 26 even began, they landed on a New Year's resolution, which is to find an identity. J.J. Reddick was asked, after the Pistons law, The 1-28-106. Again, the Lakers remaining undefeated for double-digits losses. They are remarkably consistent when they lose. They get their asses. Go home. Oh, they get their asses handed to them.

Starting point is 00:01:44 Like, there's no other way. They will not lose a squeaker, man. They also will, they won't lose a squeaker in part because they only win clutch time games. But if they're going to lose, they're going to give the other team their money's worth. But anyway, sort of through the prism of Detroit's identity of among other things, constant physicality, JJ Reddick was asked if the Lakers, 31 games in, have an identity, a DNA of their own that they can lean on.

Starting point is 00:02:15 And JJ said, quote, still trying to figure that out. And I know that's maybe a cop-out probably is, but I do know that we have had a lot of stops and starts. And we've tried to, not just the staff. I'm saying our team, the players have, everybody. We've really tried to play the right way every night and have the right intent, the flow of lineups and rotations and all that has been challenging for everybody, not just the coaches.

Starting point is 00:02:38 It's just a challenge for the players and building an identity is difficult. I think it's, if you think about our team last year and this team is different, our identity event will eventually be different. But we didn't get that identity until late January, it felt like, which side note is interesting, that identity was pre-Luca trade because Luca, well, maybe that was around when Luca was traded, but certainly late January, that's right around when it happened. And then we had to shift again. So, yes, he's talking pre-Luca then post-Luca. But I don't think that's unnatural.

Starting point is 00:03:11 I had a meeting with Phil Jackson last year pretty early in the season, and he said, I always felt like I knew who my team was by Thanksgiving. I think that's hard to figure out with this team right now. And to be fair to JJ, in terms of what he's talking about with the constant injuries and guys in and out of the lineup. There are only two Lakers on actual NBA contracts as opposed to two-way deals that have not started a game yet.

Starting point is 00:03:41 I just looked this up. Maxi Kleba and Addu Thierro. They're the only two Lakers on big boy NBA contracts who have not. By the way, both of whom have lost opportunities to start in part because of injury. Well, or I guess, yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm not saying either one of them would have.

Starting point is 00:03:59 No, but you're, that's actually a really good point. Both of them did miss significant time. That is actually, I had not thought about that, but you are correct. Nine different Lakers have started at least four games. Jake Laravia is the only Laker who's played in all 31 games. Rui, Hachamura and D'Andre Aiton, the only other Lakers who've missed fewer than five games, and Rui is about to exit that list. Luca, LeBron, Austin have missed a combined 31 games.

Starting point is 00:04:29 So while, and we will talk about this, I think there are other reasons that this team is lacking identity beyond the injuries. The injuries are a legitimate factor. Here's one of the things that I find really interesting about this identity question, because there was a time earlier in the season when the Lakers felt like they kind of had one. And it was, you know, we talked a lot about vibes. You know, and that I think was part of the, you know, the connectedness of them. There was a sense at least that guys were on the same page with how they were playing on both sides of the ball. I think there was an idea that this was a team that first and foremost played hard and consistently hard. I think there was an idea that they moved the ball well, that they were unselfish.

Starting point is 00:05:24 And, you know, different guys could step up and they were shooting the ball a little bit. better, which I think helped with all these things. But looking back, I kind of wonder if most of that stuff wasn't really an identity in how we're going to play. We're going to be physical offensively and try to get to the line and all this other stuff. Like, you know, try to try to impose our will at least in the ways that we can. If it was more, we're just going to, we're just going to watch Luca play at a super MVP level. And Austin play not at an MVP level, but as a clear cut all-star,

Starting point is 00:06:15 like a clear-cut all-star level. And those two guys, whether you want to call it regular performing, over-performing, or whatever it might be, give us the wiggle room to decide whatever we're doing kind of is our identity because the wake of that allows DeAndre Aten to be better

Starting point is 00:06:37 and gets better shots for Jake La Ravia and everybody benefits from this sort of fountain of excellence that those two guys were putting out. But what you didn't actually have was what people would consider to be like we saw with the pistons and that relentless physicality.

Starting point is 00:06:57 and identity. That what I was thinking of after we were, you know, I heard JJ talk about this. I think there is likely some truth to that. Like Luca and Austin got off to such incredible starts that like any team, when their two best players come out of the gate super hot, it's going to help them.

Starting point is 00:07:21 I do think, though, some of this was DeAndre Aitin, playing extremely well, independent of what specifically Luke and Austin were doing. Rui having, you know, one of the most efficient shot profiles for like the opening month, like in the entire game. Not just from three, from the elbow, from everywhere. Look, man, if you still look at like cleaning the glass,

Starting point is 00:07:45 Rui is other than at the rim where he's basically around league average, he is somewhere between high 80s, low 90s percentile for his position basically everywhere else it is among the reasons that once he's back, they need to make sure to get him the ball more. But like, I think there were a lot of guys playing at a high level early on. There was also more synergy. There probably was also a determination at the beginning of we're not going to have LeBron. And we have to really make sure that we are paper overing at worst, offsetting at best, his absence. So I think that created a certain degree of determination and also too. There was, you're right. There was a really heightened sense of needing to get

Starting point is 00:08:31 off to a good start. Right. And, and too, like you, you contrasted the Pistons and the Lakers lacking identity compared to them, and that's obviously true. But that Pistons team had played together for a couple years. The Lakers were actually, I think, in the process of looking for an identity because even the holdovers from last year, there was only like a handful of them who really matter like LeBron, Luca, Austin, Rui, you know, Vando to the degree that JJ was going to play him. And that was certainly not certain Jackson Hayes to the degree that JJ was going to play him, which was also uncertain. And some of those guys missed games last year too. So even the holdover sample size still required a search for an identity. So they were in the

Starting point is 00:09:19 process, I think, of trying to find it to whatever degree they landed on it because they actually landed on it versus Luca and Austin just being great, combination of both, whatever, that has over time disintegrated, in part because of injuries, in part because, and this is something JJ's acknowledged, LeBron in certain ways is acknowledged, and you and I have certainly acknowledged. LeBron's return has muddied some of what they're doing. It's not entirely LeBron's fault, but it's made it more complicated, and it's very clear nobody quite knows. knows what to do with him on the court, what he's supposed to be doing. I think his presence is muddier.

Starting point is 00:10:01 Like he's never not been the most important player on a team before. He addressed some of these things after the Pistons game. Right. And I think there have been times where to be perfectly frank, and we've talked about this before. I think LeBron looks disengaged, which I don't mean to say phoning it in. I mean disengaged. Explain, okay, let's stay on this because this question of whether or not they ever really had an identity or... I don't think they did.

Starting point is 00:10:32 Right. Or what their identity could be. You know, like how you would define that, what kind of identity this team could create, given their personnel, is one that at the very least, the Lakers seem like they are trying to find an answer to. So we'll get to that next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by game time. during basketball season, there is nothing like being in the building, the energy, the crowd, that first big run that gets everybody on their feet. The fans want to be there for those moments, not stuck refreshing screens with janky Wi-Fi or guessing what the tickets are

Starting point is 00:11:13 actually going to cost, you know, when not with the red tape. That's where, in the fine print, that's where Game Time comes in. The Game Time app gives fans the advantage back, making it incredibly easy to score amazing tickets, fast, simple, and without the guess. guesswork. Browsing the GameTime app is straightforward, intuitive. Finding tickets takes just a few taps. Prices include the fees up front so the total is clear from the start, whether you're talking about an NBA game or just whatever live event, everything is right there in one place, all the info you need. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account. Use the code locked on NBA, L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-N-B for $20 off your first purchase.

Starting point is 00:11:55 Download the GameTime app today. Get in on the action. So before we jump back into this question of LeBron, of the team of the Lakers figuring out just who they are, like frankly, Andy, aren't we all going through that process, just trying to figure out who we are? I do want to let people know about the Everyday Air Club.

Starting point is 00:12:19 There are people out there. We know we get your emails that would prefer this show to be delivered without ads. And we can do that for you. The Everyday Air Club, if you join, it's $5 a month, $50 a year. You get an ad-free audio version of Locked on Lakers compatible with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, every other major podcast app, however you like to get it, we can deliver it to you. Plus, an invitation to the members only Locked on Everyday Air Club Discord server,

Starting point is 00:12:47 which includes a group chat just for listeners of this show. And Andy and I, once we figure out how to do it, we'll try to be part of those conversations as well. to do this, you go to the locked on Lakers page here, which is locked onlakers.supercast.com. You can also check the show notes for it, locked onlakers.com, and you can sign up for the everydayer club. If you do not want to,

Starting point is 00:13:16 and you just like to show the way it is, deliver to you how it is, totally fine. We are never going to charge you. There will always be a free version of this, but we know some of you would prefer no ads. All right. The LeBron question is obviously fascinating because he's LeBron because of the father time questions,

Starting point is 00:13:34 because he's as of yet not playing at last year's level, but certainly has played better than, you know, those like initial couple of games. He's sort of in, like I think for me at least, kind of an in-between place. He was not great, I thought, against the Pistons after a really hot start. The other teams, I think, are recognizing some of the weaknesses. I think LeBron is hurt by Austin's absence, a great deal. As is Luca. As is Luca.

Starting point is 00:14:05 The whole team is, but it's going to make it harder on LeBron because only Nick Smith, Jr. is benefiting from Austin's absence. He's the only guy not hurt. He's the only guy that's not hurt. It's go do you, you do you, Nick Smith, Jr. And so, you know, there's still, I think, a good chance that they can figure out how to make this really. LeBron talked about it after the Pistons game like I he was asked by someone

Starting point is 00:14:32 about playing off ball and he's like I've been playing a lot off ball which is true and not in a you know while Luca's in the game LeBron generally speaking plays off ball and the Lakers I think have started to figure out how to use him more effectively in that way the issue for me isn't so much like LeBron offensively. Obviously, defense is going to be a question how much he can pour in. But it's just they need to, being the Lakers, they need to understand you can't lean on LeBron to fix problems to elevate your team out of a stagnant stretch or whatever it might be in the way he has historically, even through much of last year. Right now, at the least, he can't do that.

Starting point is 00:15:27 And other teams recognize it. The Lakers need to find other outlets for it. So like you say, it's not necessarily anything LeBron is doing wrong. And I do think he's playing hard. I think off the court, I agree with you. The engagement is different. That's specifically what I'm referring to. And the reason I'm even bringing this up with identity,

Starting point is 00:15:49 beyond the fact that finding a more defined role for LeBron on the court, is clearly still a work in progress. If his role is not defined, you're going to feel it. So in that sense, they need to solidify, excuse me, exactly what it is for LeBron to be doing. And he and Luca just need to find a better synergy because the minutes when they play together, it's starting to become less of a small sample size,

Starting point is 00:16:16 and it ain't getting any better. Like they're just losing those minutes when those two are on the court together. I know there's context, who are the other people who's missing, yada yada, yada. They're not winning minutes with those two together. And those two are going to have to be for the time being on the court together a fair amount. Right. It's also worth noting, too, they're going to have a harder time winning the LeBron without Luca minutes as well, which had

Starting point is 00:16:39 been a place where they had been able to find success because now LeBron doesn't have the support of Austin. Sure. But the whole infrastructure is different. But your identity isn't just what happens on the court. It's your culture. It's your leader. It's all that stuff. And to be perfectly honest, LeBron has seemed disengaged from this team. And it's not anything in terms of like a big stink or like a big drama created, but it's it's things that add up. Like saying that all, you know, all things being equal, truth be told, you know,

Starting point is 00:17:14 it's an honor to play on Christmas yada yada, but I'd rather be at home. Or, you know, I'm not really watching basketball these days in my free time. I'm watching golf. Like LeBron used to be a basketball junkie. He used to watch this stuff constantly. It's being less available post-game, post-practice. To LeBron's credit, very much like Kobe, when you and I covered Kobe, Kobe pretty much always made himself available.

Starting point is 00:17:42 LeBron pretty much made himself available for the overwhelming majority of time, which, again, to his credit, that is what your leaders are supposed to do. LeBron has made himself less available. You combine that with Rich Paul's podcast comments, talking about the things the Lakers are lacking, that they're not doing well, roster construction issues. LeBron's going to be here through the end of the year,

Starting point is 00:18:05 but not even so much because he wants to be here, but where the hell else is he going to go? Like those things add up. And LeBron, I want to make it clear, because we've said this many times, and I can hear some of the people screaming. We've said many times that it's,

Starting point is 00:18:20 It's Lucas team. He's the franchise. He's the focus moving forward. That is all true. There's an ownership onus onus on Luca as well that I think he needs to raise his level two. But LeBron is too big of a presence. He's too important of a presence for him to put out outward vibes that feel disengaged. And I think that actually affects the culture and the identity of the team. I think that's fair to some degree. I don't know if I entirely agree with you, but like the I think some of the stuff is just you know like I'm watching more golf now I'm I'd rather be home on Christmas with my family I see less as disengaged with the team and much more just like old man stuff like I'm I've been at it right you don't have to agree

Starting point is 00:19:03 with me but like I you know I you know or a team that has trouble consistently mustering the energy and focus and urgency that I'm just telling you I don't see that as him like as a disengagement from the team I see it as I've been doing this. for 20-something years. And my preference is to be home with my family on Christmas. It's not a great thing to hear from one of your team leaders, man. It's just not. You hear Draymond say it's an old guy.

Starting point is 00:19:31 It wasn't good to hear from Draymond either. I know. But my point is it's not, I don't think it's like they're looking at it. Like everybody looks at everything LeBron does is calculated as this. Is that really he's sending signals? I think that's not what I'm saying for what it's worth. But when people talk about LeBron and engagement, and leadership and all these other things.

Starting point is 00:19:50 That is often what they're talking about. And so I don't think LeBron is by saying, I'd rather be home on Christmas, is sending signals that, you know, that are supposed to be right. I think he's just, you can say, better off not saying it, fine. I'm sure the NBA would prefer he not say it.

Starting point is 00:20:05 But where I do think the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, is one of those things where you kind of can't have to some degree both. I'll set it up and then we'll talk about it over the, where we'll talk about it after the break. If LeBron is supposed to be, if this is supposed to be Luca's team, then it's Luca, then it's Luca who needs to be the biggest voice, the front and center voice, the guy that you always hear and all that stuff. If LeBron behaves in the same way as he kind of always has in terms of

Starting point is 00:20:49 engagement, in terms of speaking for the team or whatever it might be, and he doesn't seem to step back from that, then you can argue that you're going to run into other problems of, well, We all say it's Lucas team, but LeBron's not letting it happen. And so I think there is a dance here that is going on where, and I'm not saying LeBron's getting the exact balance correct. I don't think it's that complicated of a dance, man. Well, it's like you want to be there. I think he's, we'll talk about it after the break.

Starting point is 00:21:26 I think he is playing like he wants to be there. Sure. And he's trying not to lock himself into anything. going forward. I don't want to get super deep into this rabbit hole because I don't think it's fine, but we're here. We can talk about it. We're here.

Starting point is 00:21:40 We can carry it on after. Okay. Locked-on Lakers is brought to you by Fandul. Friday's already feel different during basketball season. Fan Duel is making them even better. Every Friday night before the games tip off, Fan Duel gives fans a new way to kick off the weekend with NBA Happy Hour. NBA Happy Hour is your official pregame, a limited time window where special offers

Starting point is 00:22:05 drop right inside the Fandual app before the action starts. Fridays from 6 to 7.30 Eastern have become appointment viewing with the NBA happy hour. Opening the Fandual app during happy hour always brings something new, whether you're talking about boosts or bonuses or surprises. It's easy to check the weekly special before tip off and make a move for the window closes. So before tip off, check the Fandual app, see what's happening during happy hour every Friday from 6 to 7.30 p.m. Eastern, little basketball, a little action, a whole lot of Friday. Friday energy. That's NBA happy hour only on Fandual, the official sportsbook partner of the NBA.

Starting point is 00:22:42 So I understand what you're getting at, Andy, about like, you know, sort of, you know, this LeBron starting a rabbit hole here. But like there are two things about identity. There's both like how you play, the style of play, who can do what, what, how you want to try to execute on the floor. And I, we have a between the two of us, a laundry list of problems that are making it hard. I think for this team. to adopt an identity. But as long as we're here, like we, I think we can get, that's a show in itself.

Starting point is 00:23:15 And, you know, we can tackle that ahead of the Thursdays game against Memphis, the first of a rare home home. Non-consecutive back-to-back. Non-consecutive back-to-back against the same team. Just a little bit of the weirdness

Starting point is 00:23:32 that is created by the schedule makers trying to lessen back-to-backs and also a kind of, accommodate the NBA Cup, you get weird quirks like this. Memphis is playing better of late, man. They're playing much better. They sure are. And, you know, Memphis is

Starting point is 00:23:48 playing better. The Clippers are playing better. The Sons are, you know, they're up to 19 wins. The Lakers, by the way, and we'll get to this probably tomorrow as we look in this game. This stretch of games are entering. It is still very possible for the Lakers to finish in the top four. They are

Starting point is 00:24:04 only a game and a half as of Wednesday, you know, before any games are played. They're only game and a half ahead of the sons to stay out of the play. Indeed. So that is the more immediate danger. I was feeling really comfortable about that a couple weeks ago. I'm less comfortable now.

Starting point is 00:24:24 I mean, look, I don't want to say the good news because I will never, ever root for injuries, but they could get a little bit of help from Denver, depending on how they react to Yokic being out for a month, and they're missing a lot of new. But Christian Brown and Aaron Gordon should both be back within the next 10 days. So that will help them. And you want to talk about a team that does understand how to play together and does have an idea. And granted, a lot of that is centered around Nikola Yolke.

Starting point is 00:24:55 I need to see what they look like for a month without Yokic to believe it. I just, no, I don't think they're going to pull away from anybody, but I don't think they're going to collapse either, assuming Brown and Gordon come back sooner rather. Just they're not that far ahead of the Lakers to begin with. That's correct. No, that's my point. The Lakers could still jump up to third. Second or third. I don't actually third.

Starting point is 00:25:18 I don't think they're catching San Antonio. All right. But the other part of the identity conversation is literally who is doing, who are the culture leaders of your team? Who is doing the talking? And this to me is where the LeBron question, the LeBron and Luca and Austin question really is relevant to this, this question of identity because it's not that one is better than the other, but to say the least,

Starting point is 00:25:46 the personality difference, the style difference, the leadership style difference between Luca Donchich and LeBron James is very different. And the Lakers are transitioning to this place where Luca is the voice of the team,

Starting point is 00:26:07 but he's a different. kind of voice. He's a much different media figure. He is far less, I think, both comfortable and enthusiastic about like LeBron, you know, rolls his eyes and complaints. He loves the engagement, loves the dance. I've said before. LeBron has been, and again, this is a credit to him because this is what superstars are supposed to do. LeBron, in our time covering him, has largely made himself very available. I mean by that, like I actually think LeBron like Kobe was like this.

Starting point is 00:26:42 Kobe liked it. Like ultimately there are times when he was annoyed by it and didn't want to do it. But ultimately, Kobe liked engaging with this lever to manipulate both how people talk about the team he plays on and to try to change the way the team is doing stuff based on on using the media as a tool. Absolutely. LeBron comes from that side of the how I'm going to use the media and, you know, deal. Luca does not. Luca, none of this has to say like what he says behind closed doors, how he addresses the team at practice, how he leads and all those things.

Starting point is 00:27:23 As a media figure, Luca is far different from LeBron. And I do think LeBron, who has on the floor taken a backseat to Luca, he's taking a backseat to Austin. Like, you know, the people who say that LeBron won't adjust are just flat wrong. I do think this is a space that is probably harder in some ways to navigate because Luca is such a soft voice, relatively speaking. I do think there's a, there's some degree of disengagement, like not my team anymore. I think that's part of it. I think that's kind of where you're coming from to some degree. And I agree there's a part of that there.

Starting point is 00:28:08 But I also think there's a part of it that is as a professional, whether it's in self-interest, I don't want people coming out and say LeBron is just being an a hole about these things and won't give up. I don't want people talking about me in a way I don't want them talking about. I don't think he wants the Bigfoot, Luca. I don't think it would be really easy to do that if he can. continued sort of leading and speaking and doing all those things in the same way.

Starting point is 00:28:34 To me, yes, it would be, but it's also really easy to avoid. And what I'm talking about, I don't think is actually that complicated. The piece of Luca needing to grow as a front-facing leader, I agree with you. That is something that he needs to do. It takes time. We covered the last 10 years of Kobe's career. And we were around Kobe, we were around those teams from the two, 2005, 2006 season, the first season that Phil Jackson returned through the end of Kobe's

Starting point is 00:29:06 career. And we watched an evolution of Kobe as a leader. Like, it took Kobe a little time to recognize that everybody get in line or get the F out of my way. You can't lead people that way. And he also always was in the L.A. market, which makes it a because there's a big difference between doing, you know, sort of being the man in Dallas and being the... the man in LA. It's just different. But we, we watched Kobe in really commendable ways grow as a leader. And, you know, we talked to his teammates. His teammates recognized and appreciated that growth. So there are, there are areas where Luca needs to become more comfortable, find different ways, I think, to use his voice not just privately. In the private stuff, you could argue matters more

Starting point is 00:29:54 than the public at the end of the day. But the public stuff does matter. And he needs to do that. What I'm talking about with LeBron, it's not a question of avoiding big footing because I think that's actually pretty easy to do. I'm talking about avoiding stuff that seems like disengagement, which is also really easy to do. Like this middle ground that I'm talking about, it ain't that complicated. It's do you decide to avoid doing certain things that appear like disengagement or not? It's not that hard. You used like the Christmas thing as an easy. example, which I just don't really agree with necessarily.

Starting point is 00:30:36 But like time of what the team was going through, I do think it matters. Okay. That's, I, that's, and I understand your perspective, and I'm sure a lot of people agree with you. I think what do you think about the, the, you know, some of the stuff about future forward stuff, about things that are like, because that to me is a trickier place. And you mentioned an example of what you mean. Well, like you, you mentioned before if I understood correctly, like, you know, the,

Starting point is 00:31:01 this type of like, you know, after this, you know, we're here because we can't really go anywhere. Like, you know, there is a really, I think, conscious, the elephant in the room is, is LeBron going to be a Laker after this year? And I think the answer is increasingly no. But I agree. They're trying real hard not to talk about it. Is that part of it? Because I mean, I do think like there, you know, some of the Rich Paul stuff is related to that. I think there, I think team LeBron is sort of adjusting to a new world in which you know, LeBron kind of can't make stuff

Starting point is 00:31:36 happen the way he used to. But like that's less of what I'm talking. Like, do you feel like that's part of the engagement or, because I'm not trying to debate it. I'm just trying to understand a little bit more of where you're coming from. I mean, does it matter at all? Sure. I mean, again,

Starting point is 00:31:53 LeBron is such a big figure. Everything with LeBron matters on some level. It's less of what I'm talking about. if for no other reason, then I don't think the Lakers are particularly scared of LeBron leaving part of that. I don't think anybody wants to put themselves into any kind of, you know, on the record at all about what's going to happen. That is less of what I'm talking about. I don't think LeBron owes it to the Lakers to give more of an impression that he is 10 toes down beyond this season. I don't think he owes that to him at all, particularly if he's not sure that's what he wants. hell, he may not be sure he wants to be an NBA player after this season.

Starting point is 00:32:33 I think if he struggles as much as he kind of has, I think that's 100% on the table. So I don't think that piece of it would be fair to LeBron. That's not even what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the here and now. And just the, you can't be LeBron sort of in the background. And, you know, when we covered the last 10 years of Kobe's career, Derek Fisher was a big voice in that locker room. Lamar Odom was a big voice in that locker room. Powell Gasol was increasingly a big voice.

Starting point is 00:33:03 Like, there can be more than one voice without big footing each other. It's not always Shaq v. Kobe in terms of voices. And again, I'm not talking about LeBron potentially big footing Luca. I think LeBron is smart enough to know how to avoid that if he wants to. And I agree with you. I don't think that's what he wants to do. I think he's been very conscious of not. doing it. And I don't think Luca's interested in a territorial contest between him and

Starting point is 00:33:34 LeBron either. Again, I'm just talking about that type of engagement for a team that often lacks urgency, period. It doesn't be helpful in those ways. Yeah, I see what you're getting at. I don't think there's much to honestly to debate. The debate, I think, would just be to the extent to which, you know, you think LeBron is both disengaged or how much it matters. Like, I think the, the, the, was it the first game? That game where it was, you know, where he sat on the bench and was like stone-faced. Yeah. That was really bad.

Starting point is 00:34:13 It was. I mean, if he fair to LeBron, that was back when his back was really bothering him. He really may have been. He might have just been really uncomfortable. No, it's true. He really may have been uncomfortable. But like, that was a terrible, both metaphorically and literally, bad look. It looked bad.

Starting point is 00:34:27 And he's aware of that stuff. That kind of thing needs. And that I think for the most part has changed. Yeah. I think the Lakers, just as an organization, are in a weird place. This is Luca's team. Luca is the leader. Luca is the face.

Starting point is 00:34:49 Luca is the voice. Luca is all these things. But the Lakers haven't had an organization where the player who was front and center wasn't also a big voice since like the first couple years of Kareem maybe. Like I can't think of a time where the star player on a good team wasn't a big, giant person who could kind of do all like the headliner stuff. And I think the organization.

Starting point is 00:35:28 is learning how to do some of this stuff differently because Luca is just not cut from that same mold, which is understandable in a lot of ways. And so for Thursday's show, we'll talk about the second half of this identity question. The Lakers have an identity question with who is the, how they present themselves to the world, how they talk to each other behind closed doors.

Starting point is 00:36:02 They also have an identity problem with how they play on the floor. I was going to say, I want to make sure we get into that because I think some of this is due to the absences that JJ mentioned, but there's also inherent roster construction issues that I think would have created identity issues at full strength. And also style of play that I think muddles what I think they want to be. Part B. Part 2. If you prefer numbers

Starting point is 00:36:30 of the identity conversation coming Thursday, Lockton, Lakers on YouTube is breaking in a home. Go hang out with over 37,000 subscribers. We'll see everyone tomorrow.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - JJ Redick Says the Lakers Lack an Identity (Part 1)

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.