Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LeBron James Returns to Practice Monday, as Opportunity Knocks for the Lakers

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone, welcome to Locked on Lakers for Monday. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Kemenetsky, LeBron James, returns to the practice floor. What comes next for the Lakers? That's next for us. 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 your first listen of every day on the number one ranked sports podcast network

Starting point is 00:00:35 in the entire universe. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Kaminetsky here. Of course, many of you watch on YouTube as well. The Lockdown-Lakers YouTube channel, over 37,000 subscribers there. So no matter where you get your podcasts, whether that's the audio version, Spotify, Apple, YouTube,

Starting point is 00:00:55 we appreciate you being here. Do you want to let everybody know that today's episode is brought to you by GameTime, download the GameTime app today, create an account, use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase, Andy. We mentioned it in the open. You know, Austin Reeves, he noted yesterday that Brony James Jr. was starting for the Lakers while the old man was toiling away in the G League.

Starting point is 00:01:23 Well, it looks like Pops is going to get a call up. He's going to be practicing with the big club on Monday. I'm going to try to make it to practice on Monday, assuming my schedule, allows. And one of the things that I want to ask LeBron, if I get an opportunity, obviously, there's going to be questions about health, how you're feeling, how it was practiced, yada, yada, yada. I don't remember off the top of my head if the old development league, the D-League, they used to call it, even existed when LeBron first came into the league. I don't think it did. And if it did, LeBron anyway, would have never been a part of it. Like, I'm actually wondering if

Starting point is 00:02:00 this is the first time, even with like, what is essentially a real thing, you know, rehab assignment, LeBron has ever worked with the G League before? I'm wondering, and if the answer is no, and it would not shock me, even if in season 23, this is truly a first for LeBron, like what he thought of that experience, just truly seeing how the other half lives. Yeah, and I was incorrect. LeBron's rookie year was 2003, 2004. The D-League, as you mentioned, it was launched in 2000.

Starting point is 00:02:34 2001. So it was alive when LeBron started in the league, but not by much, which is kind of amazing. Yeah, it is kind of amazing. It's gone through a couple different renamings, different processes. I mean, in all honesty, the G League has now become a huge thing for players looking to get into the NBA. It really has become a much different thing that it was. Yeah, it's become a very successful farming system. But like, I'm just curious to get LeBron's perspective on what was it like to actually work with this group. Yeah, for sure. And so he's been down there. He's been, he's had multiple practices. So again, multiple reports that he'll be on the floor for the Lakers of practice on Monday.

Starting point is 00:03:17 And, you know, so this is not a surprise. It is a natural progression. The Lakers obviously taking Sunday off after the long road trip, which ended quite successfully with, I think, the best win of the year in Milwaukee. We'll talk about a few more things from that game before we're done here. But what we don't know yet, Andy, is if LeBron, and I'm sure this will come up on Monday and we'll have a little more information going into Tuesday, whether LeBron will be in the lineup Tuesday night at home against Utah. If he's not, though, the Lakers don't play again.

Starting point is 00:03:52 It's a really goofy scheduling quirk, which we'll get to for probably the second segment. The Lakers don't play again after Tuesday night until Sunday in Utah. So a long stretch of practice, rest available to them. So we'll find out pretty soon whether LeBron's going to play either the next game or the following, but it looks pretty good that he's coming back soon. It does look back. It does look great that he could be back soon. Obviously, the team, they have succeeded without LeBron.

Starting point is 00:04:22 And I was actually looking up some numbers, just trying to quantify what it means for them to be in this place this far without LeBron, assuming LeBron comes back either Tuesday versus Utah or this following Sunday also against Utah. So you end up his debut against one of the bottom feeder teams in the NBA. The Lakers are 10 and 4 this season without LeBron playing a single game. They're 6 and 4 versus teams above 500 and 4 and 0 versus teams below 500. And their strength of schedule is currently fifth in the NBA. Like, they have not always been pretty in the way they put together these wins. They have certainly not avoided a lot of warning signs or problem areas being exposed during their wins.

Starting point is 00:05:16 I mean, we've talked a lot about the defense, although here's what's crazy. Their defense against the bucks, and I think also to some extent, the Pelicans was so good. The Lakers defensive rating right now, and this may change depending on Sunday's games, all that stuff. They're currently at 14 for defensive rating in the NBA, which is far higher than where they've been for much of the year. Well, yeah, especially after the Oklahoma City game. And again, we're early in the season so single games can move teams around.

Starting point is 00:05:49 But middle of the pack for this group would be, you know, as sort of the starting point for what they need to be able to do to. compete. And also, what's crazy is their defense, their defensive rating now is actually ranked higher than their offensive rating. They're 14 at defense, 16 at offense, which again, I think you would agree, does not paint the complete or even accurate picture of what this team has looked like over the course of 14 games. But it has been a reminder, I would say, that there had been times where they have cranked up their defense effectively. It has not been consistent. It certainly is the biggest potential hindrance for this team this season. But at times,

Starting point is 00:06:36 their defenses look pretty good. I think, here's the thing. I think they are, have done a pretty good job most of the time of trying to do what they're supposed to do. There are times when it is a challenge based on personnel. And you, you mentioned, you know, where they are after these games, 10 and 4, if you told me at the beginning of the season, just for a start, that, okay, LeBron is going to be out until potentially, we'll even say, late November.

Starting point is 00:07:05 The Sunday game is the 23rd, I believe. So if you said LeBron's not going to play until November 23rd, or even if you said he's not going to play until November 18th, and the Lakers are going to be 10 and 4 in that stretch, I'd be like, I'll take it. I mean, like, in a heartbeat. If you would also tell me that over that stretch, Luca would miss four games, I believe.

Starting point is 00:07:27 Reeves has missed three or four. I know at least three. They've been without Marcus Smart at different times. Rui Hachamura didn't play. Like, you know, Gabe Vincent has for all intents and purposes missed the season. Not played. Yes.

Starting point is 00:07:39 And is he like a world beater? No, but he's an important part of their rotation because as we've seen, they're not, they don't have a ton of other guards so they can just plug into that and make it go.

Starting point is 00:07:50 if you told me all of that stuff and that they would be 10 and 4, Andy, I'd say you were crazy. That's crazy talk, especially when you consider like, this has not been, we'll get to it in the next segment, because there's some, a little shift maybe coming. This has not been an easy stretch of schedule, like you said, fifth in the league in strength of schedule. So you're doing this primarily against really good competition. And I think you just, we nitpick, you know, we look for the stuff that, you know, but they're not doing this. They're not doing that. And obviously the Oklahoma City game is like, woo.

Starting point is 00:08:35 But although every Oklahoma City game against every team in the league turns into oof, I point out, like what they did to the list. The Thunder did to the Warriors the night before. The Warriors then turned around and beat San Antonio the next night. And it played pretty well since then. So it's like Oklahoma City is like in its own category and we'll see about it. But they are doing really good work. And you don't look at this and say, yeah, but they've gotten.

Starting point is 00:09:10 There's this bit of luck there. They've actually been relatively unlucky with their roster, composition. They've played good competition and have had to beat good teams. All of these things. So when you look forward, you get LeBron back and they're going to be, you know, we'll talk over the course of the week, who's going to be in the starting lineup and how are they going to adjust that and what changes when LeBron comes back? But they're adding LeBron James back to the lineup, second team all NBA last year, sixth and MVP voting. He's LeBron. It's going to make them better. And I just, I think Lakers fans ought to be really excited about where the team is right now.

Starting point is 00:09:49 I think if you look at where the team is right now, and just in terms of what does it say that they've managed to do this without LeBron, the fact that they have this 10 and 4 record against what has been an early, you know, frankly, a more difficult strength of schedule than you and I thought it would be heading. Certainly, you know, I know, I was a little more, you know, you were, you know, but either way, yeah, I wouldn't have said fifth. It has been, yeah. And even if you thought that it was sneaky tougher,

Starting point is 00:10:18 I don't think you would have said fifth hardest. No, right, exactly. Yeah. I think it speaks to the fact that they've been a resourceful group. And if nothing else, this to me is the type of thing that underscores the importance of chemistry because they all have talked about all season. And it came up after last night's win or Saturday's win in Milwaukee. And I kind of exemplified by a very.

Starting point is 00:10:42 fun, goofy, eccentric stream of consciousness post-game interview from DeAndre Aiton, which is otherwise known as a standard DeAndre Aiton post-game interview. But those guys are talking up chemistry. You can see and hear guys chiming in as Aitin is doing his interview. And one of the areas where I think chemistry really matters is how you get through adversity or challenges, obstacles, stuff like that. By all. all counts. This team really has it. There's one of the thing that you're getting at here that JJ Redick talked about after the Milwaukee game that I want to touch on. We'll get into DeAndre Aiton with a little more depth

Starting point is 00:11:24 and note some real opportunities for the Lakers to perhaps add to this early season, already strong early season start. All of that coming up next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Robin Hood. Your ambition just met its match with Robin Hood. You play for the win. Not just on game day. every day, locking in on every opportunity, beating your PR, beating it again. Channel that drive into your money. Robin Hood puts you in control of your money, trade stocks and ETFs, options, futures and crypto, all on one platform. You can now build and execute your own trades from a desktop with Robin Hood Legends advanced tools or take advantage of the new Robin Hood

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Starting point is 00:12:34 Nothing beats being in the arena for those opening games, but everybody understands that getting tickets can be a headache between waiting in queues, surprising fees, prices that jump right before checkout. It's easy to get frustrated. really all you want to do, Andy, is just get in the building and cheer on your team. And that's where GameTime comes in. It's the app that gives fans the advantage. And it's your ultimate life hack for scoring amazing NBA tickets fast, easy, and stress-free.

Starting point is 00:12:58 Of course, in our family, we do a lot of soccer. We go to the L-AFC, to the Galaxy, to Angel City. And that's where we use GameTime all the time. Checking, you know, we do it a lot of times on the same day. We get to view our seats. We know exactly where we're going to sit. The kids can sit there and pick them out. and decide what they want to see. I know exactly how much you're going to pay because all the fees are right there.

Starting point is 00:13:20 And I know the all in pricing there is a big deal and a major game changer for me. And if you're going back to the NBA, you can find NBA tickets for under $25 on game time. These things exist. So take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with game time. Download the game time app, create account, use code locked in NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms. Do apply. That's code LOCK-E-D-O-N-N-B-A for $20 off. Tap, ticket, go. You talk about chemistry, Andy, and we'll get to the sort of the opportunities that are in front of the Lakers over these next couple of weeks, really through the end of the month before they are on the road for basically all of December until Christmas. Like the first like three weeks of December, they're gone. Redick made a point of talking up his assistants, talking up the staff after the game. on Saturday because they played Friday night. They were on the flight.

Starting point is 00:14:23 They didn't have a lot of time to prepare. It's not the playoffs. You don't get all this stuff in advance. Like you're doing it night tonight. And he really had a lot of praise for the way that his staff got the team, the information they needed, came up with the game playing, kept it simple, but kept it very obviously effective. And so it's always really cool when you hear,

Starting point is 00:14:49 coaches do that, you know, spread praise around to their assistance. We hear, I know we talk about them all the time. Andy Sean McVeigh does this kind of thing constantly. And JJ spent time with Sean McVe. He talked, you know, so JJ talked about that. He made a point about talking about Maxi Claiba and the winning plays and all that kind of stuff. He goes into players and stuff like that that are beyond sort of the simple box score stuff. And the reason I mention this, when you talk about chemistry, I think another thing that is very clear over these 14 games with this constant churn of players is that when guys go out on the floor, they know what they're supposed to do. And they have a way of playing and a blueprint that they can apply no matter who is, you know, who is on the floor at that time. The effectiveness can change.

Starting point is 00:15:49 But everybody seems to be on the same page doing the same thing night after night, which is obviously important. Yeah. I mean, an example of this, we've talked over the last week. And it's been, I think, Milwaukee win notwithstanding. The weakness of bench scoring has been an issue over the course of this road trip. It's really been an issue over the course of this season, unless like La Ravia puts 25. But in these games when say the bench unit of Jake LaRavia, Dalton Connect, Jackson

Starting point is 00:16:24 Hayes, Jared Vanderbilt are not prolific enough. They are not producing enough counting stats to really help the starters maintain a lead, maybe build a lead, all of that stuff. It never feels like Jake, Jackson, Vando, or even Dalton don't understand what they're supposed to be doing. They may not execute it. And some of the problem is, other than Dalton, who is seen as a score and thus far has not been a consistent enough score, but that is his actual role in the NBA. Jake, Vando, and Jackson, that's not actually their role in the NBA. So when you need scoring from those guys, it's not that none of them can ever provide it, because particularly in the case of Jackson and Jake, it'll occasionally happen, but it's not what they're in the league to do.

Starting point is 00:17:19 And at that point, you're asking more from them than what is their standard role, but they all, to your point, get their role. And so I credit to the coaching staff. And so you look, though, at what's coming. And I think this is important. Like, you know, we did just talk about how, you know, the schedule maybe hasn't been as, has been hard. than people might have anticipated going into the season. So I hesitate to say suddenly it's going to get easier.

Starting point is 00:17:48 But Andy, the Wakers are 10 and 4. And in this little stretch, they're home, aside from the Utah game, they're home for the rest of the month. They play Utah at home. That's Tuesday. Then they play Utah again on Sunday. So that opportunity is both two games against bad teams, but also four days, give or take of practice time to be able to be able to be able to

Starting point is 00:18:13 able to work on any areas of slippage and all that kind of stuff while also getting your guys some rest and therapy and whatever they might need to get ready. Then you have a surprisingly bad Clippers team. Even if you didn't buy the hype, I don't think most people anticipated what are they like, they're like three and seven or four and seven or something, four and eight. It's been really bad for the Clippers thus far. We'll see who's available to play for them when that game rolls around, but they have not played well. The bottom has completely fallen out in Dallas. They are four and eight as of this four and eight on Sunday. I believe they play Sunday night. And, you know, Dallas, the bottom is completely fallen out, not sure when Anthony Davis is going to

Starting point is 00:18:55 play again. Very weird thing going on there where it seems like team Davis says he can go play and the ownership isn't signing off on letting him back on the floor. Real quick, real quick. And I don't know how much of this is the ownership group. not having faith in the Mavericks medical staff and being worried about, you know, some type of medical bodily setback with AD because it always feels like there's something. How much of this is not unreasonable? How much of this is them not wanting him to play because they are worried about him potentially getting hurt and hurting his trade value?

Starting point is 00:19:32 Then just going straight into tankathon, like whatever. You know, I'm sure more details and clues will, information will, surface. It is though a reminder for fans and I think especially NBA media who spend so much time bitching about the load management era and players are soft. There's a lot more that goes into this other than what the players want. And contrary to what I think is the prevalent narrative, the players do not always have a vote on this stuff. I know it's the player empowerment player empowerment era and everyone thinks, you know, it's players run league. They do not actually have the final say on everything.

Starting point is 00:20:16 And in particular, I think playing time when these guys play through injuries when they don't, it is a lot more coaching ownership front office than I think most people either realize or are willing to concede. So, I mean, I think, you know, it could be tanking, could be, I certainly think they're going to be looking to move AD. But you go back to the schedule. Following the Dallas game, the bottom seems to be dropping out of the Mavericks completely,

Starting point is 00:20:45 even again, if you didn't think they were going to be a high-end playoff team. What's happening there now? I certainly did not. A little worse than expected. You get the Pelicans, and then you get a surprisingly competitive thus far Phoenix team. So that's six games where you can look at the Lakers and say they should go four and two, probably.

Starting point is 00:21:06 The four and two is a reasonable benchmark, I think, for those six games, maybe a little bit better. So before you head out on the road, you could be, you know, that would make them 14 and 6. I mean, that's pretty good heading out into the road trip. And again, they'll have all of this practice time to get a little sharper for those games. So a significant opportunity in front of the Lakers, especially given that they are at some point in the near future welcoming LeBron. James back into the gameplay lineup. So the other guy that's been a great story thus far this year, you mentioned him earlier. Andy is DeAndre Aiton.

Starting point is 00:21:45 He is a big part, I think, of this chemistry and the kind of the vibe around the team. And so we'll talk a little bit more about Aiton, who was fantastic in Milwaukee next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Fandul, the NBA. It is upon us, and there is no better place to get in on the action than Fandul, the official sports betting partner of the NBA, even if you miss the start of a game or you want to ride a hot hand fan duel, they got you covered.

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Starting point is 00:23:09 And well, and I'm not saying this was like a fiction. There have been a lot of well-documented and I think likely very well-earned questions about DeAndre Aiton's drive, his work ethics and professionalism questions in there. We all know the story about the ice and getting iced in in Portland and all these other things. I will continue to defend him. The man grew up in the Bahamas, played all of his collegiate or professional basketball to that point in Arizona. DeAndre Aiton has not grown up equipped to know what to do in studio. We live in Southern California. Look how people panic when it just drizzles rain.

Starting point is 00:23:53 So let's lay off DeAndre on this particular way. On this particular thing. The man's probably never seen a shovel before. And you talked about this. Was it with Mike Richmond? Who'd you talk about with the beginning of season? I spoke with both Mike Richmond and Sean Hiken. Mike Richmond from Lockdown Blazers, Sean Hiken, the Rose Garden report.

Starting point is 00:24:11 he has covered the Blazers since basically you and I have gotten into this industry. You know, one of the things that came out of those conversations is it's the human being DeAndre Aitin is nobody really seems to have a lot of complaints about the person. He's well, okay. Yes and no. I mean, what as far as thinking he's a bad guy, no. Like I never heard anybody say they think he's a bad guy. The human being and when I say this, I mean specifically the personality.

Starting point is 00:24:41 one of the things I'm pretty sure it was Sean Huyken who brought this up. And Sean, for what it's worth, liked DeAndre a lot on a personal level. And actually in the scouting report of DeAndre Aiton that we did for this show and also on my show, Lakers talk for ESPN 710, my weekly Lakers talk show, which by the way will be this Monday. And we're going to have Mike Garcia, aka Canyon Driver on Twitter. He's going to appear. we're going to talk about the impressions of the team so far, but also a due Thero, who he knew very well from scouting Thero and was incredibly excited when the Lakers traded up twice to be in the opportunity to draft him.

Starting point is 00:25:21 But Sean brought up, and that as much as D'Andre's personality in and of itself, good guy and nobody thought he was a bad guy, there could be times where he would be kind of goofy and loose when maybe the moment didn't call for it. Yes. And I think that is interesting for where they are now because things are going very well. DeAndre is playing well. And we've seen his postgame interviews are a very fun, flighty stream of consciousness adventure that I think his teammates really enjoy. But what I have liked so far is in the games where they haven't played well, at least based off what I've seen postgame,

Starting point is 00:26:08 DeAndre is not making attempts to keep things inappropriately light and loose. He's been saying we played like ass and we need to do better. But what you're getting at is kind of what I'm getting at as well. It's like the wrong bad timing, you know, too loose at their like those to me are professionalism questions. That's understanding time and space. That's not he is a bad guy. He's a guy that from a personality standpoint, people seem to like.

Starting point is 00:26:35 And what I think is helping. We touched on this a little bit after the Bucks game, but I really think it's helping is that he gets here. And so much of that baggage is secondary because there are no question. There are people tapping their feet and just sort of waiting for D'Andre Aiton to fail. That was the prediction from a lot of people, not you and me, but there are people who are waiting and I think quite frankly rooting for DeAndre Aiden to fail in L.A. And the difference though is those things, he's not expected here to be a voice in the locker room.

Starting point is 00:27:22 He is not expected to be an all-star every night. He is not like there will be, you know, it's going to be annoying when Aidan doesn't play. like he's raising the bar and we'll notice if he has a couple off games. We did during this road trip. Yeah. But the difference is I think people look at Aiden or at least should look at Aden, not as an All-Star who is going to go out and kill it, is expected to go out and kill it eight out of ten games,

Starting point is 00:27:49 you know, nine out of ten games. That's what the All-Star players are expected to do. He's supposed to come here and check the boxes on a night-to-night basis of playing hard, playing focused, get some rebounds, and the offense, if you contribute that on any given night, awesome. I think contextually that helps tremendously in his ad takes, you know, he can be kind of a fun light in the locker room because he seems to, like you say, understand the assignment. No, you know, it's a team with serious championship expectations.

Starting point is 00:28:28 He went to a team, he went to a Western Conference Finals before, so you can obviously succeed with DeAndre Aiton on your team. And just, I think the context of everything fits so much better here. And, you know, I just, I'm not expecting a lot of drop off. And I think what he brings is this sort of guy that you can now root for, I think, much more. Hey, let's watch this guy make good on his career. It's a 180 shift that if he keeps taking advantage of it is going to, I think, play through the year.

Starting point is 00:29:04 Yeah, I think the way you phrase that is perfect with make good on his career as opposed to make good on the draft status. Like that ship has in all likelihood sailed, particularly when you happen to be in the same draft class as Luca. And there's no way you're ever going to approach what Luca's done. I would say most people rightly have him behind Trey Young, and I don't think there's a chance. And I'm not even the world's biggest Trey Young fan, but I don't think the only. Trey has had a better career.

Starting point is 00:29:35 He's a better player. Exactly. And I'm sure if we went through other guys in that draft class, we'd find more examples. But making good on his career is a completely different thing. And from the Lakers perspective, you don't need to look for the signs of, oh, that's the guy that was taken number one overall.

Starting point is 00:29:53 like we're about to get that guy. It'd be great if it happened, but it's not mandatory. The thing that I'm always looking for is signs of backsliding, signs of not maintaining the focus and the intensity. And as you said, not even understanding the assignment, because I think DeAndre gets it, the accepting the assignment, embracing the assignment. But the part about him not needing to be worthy of a number one

Starting point is 00:30:23 overall pick, which obviously was a thing in Phoenix. And I think when Portland brought him in, there was, I think, the hope that maybe they could get that version. I remember years ago when Kwame Brown was a Laker, and obviously DeAndre Aiton has been a better player than Kwame ever was. But Kwame was a former number one overall pick, and the Lakers were his second team. And I remember talking with him about just the expectations of being number one overall, much less handpicked by Jordan, all that stuff. And he said, like, look, man, I can't do anything about that anymore. Like, for better, for worse, maybe a bit of both, like, it's done.

Starting point is 00:31:04 I'm never going to be seen as worthy of that. I just need to be the best player I can be. I just need to prove that I can be in the NBA. And look, for all the bleep that Kwame took over the course of his career, guy had a 12-year career. He made like $75 million. dollars. In the grand, do I think he could have probably used college in terms of being more mentally and professionally ready for the NBA? Yes, like Kwame grew up very poor in a lot of chaos.

Starting point is 00:31:36 And he just was not in a lot of ways prepared for being an adult with with a job like this or whatever. Especially into the scrutiny of Michael Jordan and all this other stuff. And then the Lakers. Like he just, like we both actually really liked Kwame when we covered him. Oh, he's a really great guy and much more thoughtful. Right. We both actually thought very highly of him when we covered him. But like he wasn't ready for a lot of this. But the flip side is, had he stayed a year or two in college, maybe he, you know,

Starting point is 00:32:07 the warts start showing more. He's drafted lower in the first round. Maybe not drafted all in the first round. The bottom line is his career worked out because it set up him and his fans. family for life. Like, yeah. He, and I think it helped him as much as Kwame, I think, was never truly comfortable with the scrutiny of being in the NBA.

Starting point is 00:32:27 I do think it helped him that he seemed to understand like it's pointless to try to show that I was worthy of a number one overall pick like. He's just because he wasn't. And that's right. And what I feel from Aiden is is a certain and I've not been around him. I'm, you know, this is not me sitting down with long conversation. But there's a lightness around and about this season so far with him where some of the, I think that burden is, is taken away.

Starting point is 00:33:02 And it's, I'm saying, I said Western Conference Finals earlier, by the way. It's an actually finals team, not a Western Conference Finals team. And, you know, it probably helped, you know, Chris Paul was on that team. It's like, you know, there was leadership. in that group that wasn't expected to come from DeAndre 8. And the Lakers obviously have that, you know, in excess between Luca and LeBron and Reeves and guys like Gabe Vincent and Marcus Smart. Like they don't, this doesn't, you know, Aiton's just got to get in line and do his job.

Starting point is 00:33:38 And there is none of that extra responsibility. And I just feel like it, you just get. get a vibe of whether or not something's kind of working. Like when Westbrook got here, for example, and I'm not trying to rehash that whole thing. But like you could tell from the beginning, like this just, the vibe here is way off. It's not going to work.

Starting point is 00:34:02 And I get the exact opposite feeling. You know what? It was like Dwight 1.0 with the Lakers and we were around that team a lot. From minute one. Not going to work. And for some of the reasons that were external. Arnold Dwight. And, you know, but Dwight 2.0 felt it from the beginning because it's a similar context

Starting point is 00:34:24 change. Like what Dwight was supposed to do here when he came back the second time, very different. So I just, I feel like this is maybe the first year in, without being a DeAndre Aiton historian. This may be the first year where the focus is going to be less on what he isn't doing and what he isn't. and more on what he is. And that even if the ratio doesn't change,

Starting point is 00:34:54 if we're focused on, people are going to be more focused on the good stuff than the bad. And that is a real, you know, mentally can make a big difference for Aiton just in terms of how he navigates the season. So we'll see as long as they're winning and he's doing his job, all these fun post-game interviews are going to be something people look forward to. As you mentioned, we'll see what happens if it's wrong place, wrong time, but I think that'll get corrected pretty quickly inside the room if it needs to be.

Starting point is 00:35:22 Yeah, so far, so good. Lockdown Lakers on YouTube is we're going to hang out with over 37,000 subscribers to the channel. We will see how things go with LeBron on Monday. Obviously update you Monday night on any status for Tuesday and beyond, but things are looking up for him. Things are therefore looking up even more so for the Lakers. Lots to be excited about. We'll talk to you tomorrow.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - LeBron James Returns to Practice Monday, as Opportunity Knocks for the Lakers

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