Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Vs. Steph! The Lakers Vs. LeBron! Plus, How Much Pressure Does Donćić Face?

Episode Date: August 12, 2026

The first bits of the schedule were released on Tuesday, and (no surprise) the Lakers play a big role in what the NBA now calls Opening Week, and then on Christmas. They're playing on what is technically the first night of the season, but then the Lakers will host the Warriors (another version of ______ vs. Steph!) and then on Christmas, the league has sent LeBron James back to the Crypt, like a big gift from Santa.  Both games should be entertaining (it's always fun to watch Steph play) and while the lead up to LeBron's return has the potential to be completely insufferable, the actual X-Mas basketball should be great. The Sixers are a super-intriguing bunch, with all sorts of talent, and the Lakers have the potential to be pretty dynamic, themselves.  So while the NBA isn't exactly going out on any limbs, here, they did assign Luka and the Lakers a couple of good games.  More schedule coming on Wednesday (NBA Cup draws) and Thursday (full schedule release).  Finally, Kirk Goldsberry was on with Zach Lowe, and cited Luka as the player he believes is under the most pressure this year. The reasons he cites (which we pass along) certainly make sense, and the argument he makes is not far fetched. But is he right?    HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky    SEGMENT 1: Luka vs. Steph! LeBron vs. the Lakers!    SEGMENT 2: What to expect on Christmas.    SEGMENT 3: How much pressure is Luka facing?    Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images     Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Odoo Great organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon.   FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COMto play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season.   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.

The Lakers have a schedule, or a couple games of it at least. And is Luca Donchich, the player facing the most pressure across the NBA? At least one NBA observer believe so. Is he right? 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 stopping by Locked on Lakers, Brian Kaminetsky. Andy Kamenetsky, want to let you know that today's episodes brought to you by Fanduel. Join all the action at fendual.com to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer this season in Major League Baseball. So Andy, we're getting to that time of year where everybody gets to sort of wildly speculate. And we'll talk a little bit about Kirk Goldsbury's comments about Luke Donchage in a moment here. But it's schedule time. And this drippy, leaky thing that happens every year in the NBA where we just get a little taste of what's to come. But because we are in Los Angeles, because we cover the Lakers, we always get at least a couple games before the rest of the league.

The Lakers will be playing in that opening, what do they call it? It's opening week, I guess is what they call it. So the Lakers are obviously a featured game in that. they are a featured game on Christmas, and we also somewhat randomly know when they're going to play the Suns for the first time in Phoenix. So three games, Andy, it starts with that opening week game

against the Golden State Warriors, a tradition unlike any other. And Christmas was, I wouldn't say a huge surprise, they will welcome LeBron back to the crypt. Yeah, that one was in no way a surprise, it was incredibly predictable in a lot of ways the lowest of hanging fruit. Beginning with the opening week one, interesting quirk with this, the Lakers are not playing

opening night, which is unusual for them. Opening night is Tuesday, October 20th. Their first game against the Warriors is going to be October 21st. It is the first time since the 2018-19 season that the Lakers will not. be playing on opening night, like the literal first night of action, which I've seen some people react to this as, oh, see, LeBron's gone and all of a sudden Lakers going down a peg. 2018-19, that season I said it's the first time the Lakers haven't done it, that was the first season they had LeBron, which I had completely forgotten about. The Lakers actually didn't play their first game with LeBron, like LeBron James on the Lakers

senior, senior, the good one. Until two, I want to say like Thursday that week, which is just, I mean, you and I were covering the team for the athletic at the time. We've been covering the team for like 20 years. I just forgotten about that. And it's kind of crazy thinking back now that the league did not jump the bleep on LeBron with the Lakers, ASAFP. when they had the opportunity.

It's kind of bizarre that this loop ends up bookended with LeBron's first season with the Lakers, then the Lakers' first season without LeBron, that they were not the true opening night game. Yeah, I mean, I guess in theater parlance, you would call that holding the house or something. That's not something a league generally does, man. They don't do that. They start right on time.

Get that house open. Yes, they do. I think it's these things like there are a lot of ways you can slice this up we'll get to the Christmas part of it in a second you know in terms of what you would want to feature like you know what what exactly are you trying to prioritize what's what types of storylines which players which stars and things like that and when so when you when you look at opening night like literal opening night, I just closed the window of the hat. It's got OKC and San Antonio.

Yeah, it begins with the Celtics in Detroit. It's a triple header actually to open. Celtics in Detroit, then ring night in the garden for the Knicks against the Sixers, that is a rematch from the playoffs as well. And then you have a Western Conference finals rematch between the spurs and the Thunder in OKC for the third of the triple header. Right. And so that, I mean, when you start to break those things down, it kind of makes sense what they're, you know, trying to, you know, you're establishing some of these conference rivalries early. It is also, you know, tends to be the case that, you know, you allow the champion to get their rings on that night.

You can really feature them in that way. And so that part makes sense. But like, man, the Lakers are still the Lakers and Steph Curry is still Steph Curry. because I remember last year, like it was a huge deal. Like, Luke, this is what the league wanted to do last year. And then,

was it last year, it was where, it was going to be LeBron, one more LeBron versus Steph. And, you know, so I'm at like the Grove, going to a movie with my kids,

and on the marquee is, you know, the video board, it's Luke, it's LeBron, it's Steph, it's opening night on TN, or ESPN, whatever it was.

And then, like, while I'm in the movie, LeBron is hurt, and I come out of the movie. It's Luca, because it's a video board, they can switch it. And Steph, it's like, they want the Lakers and they want Steph. Steph is still

a massive and entertaining draw, and, you know, you're going to get two of the most entertaining, offensive players in that game off of sort of championship. championship night, like the first six teams, low-key or teams that either won or maybe a little bit more in the mix to get to the finals this year than the Lakers, the Lakers game that they're opening with is one where it's just like sheer offensive entertainment. And the stars, the Lakers that the league is pushing are, you know, that's what it's for.

So I get what they're doing again, even if it's like we've seen this movie 142 times. Yeah, I got to be honest. You're not wrong that Steph versus Luca has a, it has the potential to be very entertaining with those two out there. That being said, it feels very residual and kind of wrote and kind of forced from the LeBron's Steph era. And like, it doesn't feel nearly as organic as when LeBron was still like, or you're talking about like the two dominant players of their generation.

It almost feels like. And, and like how many more times? we're going to get a chance to cite. No, I get it. It feels like that one more. Well, it just, I mean, to be honest, that one I think was starting to lose some steam too, but this feels like the schedule makers forgot that LeBron is no longer on the Lakers and it was too late.

That being said, if you're going to have, you know, I mean, the only real history between Luca and Steph is Western Conference Finals 2022. Like, unless you're one of those. was hashtag real ones. I don't think anyone's thinking about that. That being said, though, from the perspective of somebody that is a diehard Laker fan like me and is always looking for them to win, and given that this is a team with a lot of moving parts and new faces and a lot of things to figure out and the fact that I don't think

the warriors are going to be very good, I'm not saying this one's in the bag, but if you're looking for an opportunity to come out of the gates one and oh, you're really, you could do worse than facing the Warriors in the opener. Yeah. When you're the Lakers, you're not going to get, I don't know, who's the worst team in the league this year, the worst team in the West? You're not getting Memphis or something like that on opening night. So like you're going to get a team with at least one or two marquee players on it in that

respect. If you want to get off to a 1-0 start, the Warriors are as good of choice as you're going to fine there. Also, too, remember, it's like this is, you know, it's Steph versus Luca. And you know, it's probably, the Warriors are going to be as good as they're going to get, probably on opening night. You know, I don't think they're going to get any better over the course of the season. I'm just going to get, you know, progressively less healthy. And, you know, you can, if you want to maximize the Steph versus Lakers thing or just show that matchup, better to get it done early because you never know what's going to happen later on.

Well, this is something, too, that I've been thinking about with the Lakers and this season. And again, a team that has so many new faces and moving parts and a lot to figure out, there is a very common school of thought, and I think it's accurate that the Lakers' second half of the season is often really difficult because the league is saving a lot of marquee matchups

and a lot of like sexy, juicy storylines for the second half of the season when they're no longer competing with the NFL and they have the sports world's fullest attention. And a lot of those matchups are inherently going to involve the Lakers as one of the marquee teams, which means the second half is often more difficult than the first half. Big picture year and year out that can often be tough for the Lakers as a draw. This particular season, it's probably a good thing. Yeah. Let's take a look at Christmas because the NBA went with, as you described,

very low-hanging fruit, sending LeBron back to Los Angeles for Christmas Day. Maybe LeBron asked for it so he could open his own presents under his own tree at his own house. No, LeBron has established that if he gets an ask, he's not playing on Christmas Day. He's made that very clear. He doesn't want to do it anymore. Well, I think his presence on the Sixers basically guaranteed that they'd be playing. His presence in the league guaranteed he'd be playing. So with that in mind, perhaps he chose his destination.

But it's an interesting one for the league and for the Lakers. We'll talk about that. And the pressure on Luca Dantzich next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Fanduel. Baseball fans, if you think you know who's hitting on. Homer today, Fanduel is giving you a free chance to call that shot with Daily Dingers, easy to play, just make your free pick for who you think will hit a home run in their game. And if you're right, you'll receive a profit boost to use on your next bet for a chance

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The league can go in here. You can emphasize inter-conference matchups, you know, big East versus West, you know, as we're going to discuss here, finals rematches, prospective finals rematches, you know, are matchups or, you know, what team are big rivalries from years past, Lakers, Celtics, that kind of thing. Or you can look in intra-conference, like what are the rivalries we're trying to set up?

Who are the teams are going to be competing against each other in the postseason, all that kind of stuff? You obviously want to make sure your biggest stars get a platform of some sort, your best teams. And so you end up with the Spurs visiting the Knicks for the first game on Christmas,

which at 12 o'clock start on the East Coast, which is, I don't know, probably a little earlier than some of these guys would want. The next game is one of those intra-conference games, Janus and the Heat against the Celtics.

The Sixers then play the Lakers. That is, you know, another one of those conference battles, but now we're really focusing more on stars and storylines. The Thunder versus the Timberwolves, Ant and Shea. And then finally, Yokic versus Steph as the last game.

Just getting your stars in there. So, you know, they could have sent the Sixers to Boston or something like that. You know, there are other places they could have sent LeBron. But it's very clear. Not many. Not many. It's very clear that they could have had them against Janus. And the heat.

There are other things. You can play Cleveland. There are other, it depends on who you're arriving. You know, you think the rivals in the East Coast, or Eastern Conference are going to be. But the easiest one and the one that's going to generate the most buzz and the most what's going to happen and what are people going to say and how's LeBron going to be received and all that stuff is send LeBron back to crypto.com.

Because they would never do. Sending the Lakers to Philly is useless. You have to send LeBron back to. to LA. Oh, this other than I think Sixers versus Nix, because that had been a playoff matchup and it's always a big deal. Or Sixers and the Garden. Yeah, LeBron of the Garden or Sixers Celtics,

which really is more of a Jalen Brown thing. This was a very obvious, predictable call. It's an organic storyline. LeBron going back to L.A. to play his old team, I would be stunned if this does not mark LeBron's first time playing the Lakers this season. You only get one shot at a first time, and I would be very surprised.

No, there's a 0%. I have not seen the schedule. I am not privy to these things. I'd be stunned. There is a 0% chance that the Sixers are, the Lakers are going to go play in Philly before Christmas. Zero. Right.

And you get the heightened emotions for LeBron's family, old franchise, Laker fans who, you know, a very large sect never quite warmed up to LeBron to begin with. I'm preparing our audience now for at least a week of will they boo LeBron on Christmas Day segments on ESPN, Amazon, at least. That being said, though, this could be some excellent actual basketball. Like the Sixers, like the Lakers, a lot of question marks, moving parts, things to figure out.

But offensively, at the very least, they could be a bleep to handle. The Lakers by then will have had two months. to round into form. They should be ready for a theoretically strong test. Hopefully both teams stay healthy. So the TMZ of it all is very obvious, but unlike Lakers, Warriors, which feels very much just about marquee, this could actually be some pretty good basketball. I, there aren't many teams in the league that I want to stay healthy more than the Sixers just because I like what that looks like and I would have said I would I want that whether LeBron's there or not it just gets a little more interesting with that with with

him on that team but like a healthy Mb with a healthy Jalen Brown with that you know that trade kind of coming out of nowhere and then you know Tyrese maxi is awesome like VJ Edgecombe has been like bumped down to like their sixth option like Vijay Edgecombe like who is was crazy good last year as a rookie. So, I mean, the Sixers got a lot of dudes. And Embed, while he is very much not the defender that he used to be, just with all the injuries, is still an incredibly effective offensive player.

And so if they can figure out how to play defense or help, hopefully on Christmas, not have figured out how to play defense, I think games involving the Sixers are going to be super duper entertaining. So you're right. From a basketball standpoint, I'm totally on board. It's the storylines that the NBA is going to be really excited to push. I am already rolling my eyes at. That's the part about this, but I just have no interest in.

I'm seeing in the comments, J. Hero 5059 says brawny probably plays a lot in that game. I'm guessing I don't know about a lot. Like, slow down. Brony's got to prove that he's actually capable of being in the rotation. even at the back end before a lot. But, you know, this would be the first time that a father and son have ever played against each other on Christmas. So, you know, there's yet another milestone for.

It's a first. Yeah. I mean, has a father and son ever played each other, period, in the NBA? I don't think so. No. No. I just making sure I didn't miss anything with, like, you know, Dolph Shays or something like that. No.

You know, there's no Ken Griffey Jr., Ken Griffey senior thing happening here. Pretty positive the first time LeBron and Brani are on. Well, yeah, but I was going to say I'm pretty sure the first time they step on the court against each other this season, assuming it happens. That will be the first time father and son have played against each other. And so we'll see. I mean, you could argue that unless Brony does something unusual or unexpected over the course of the first couple months of the season, And if he does get a reasonable amount of playing time in that game, the Lakers have either played very well or played very poorly.

So that may not be a good sign. It's funny. Like I know I see a lot of people because people are weird. You know, the brothers, you know, don't want LeBron to get booed. That is, I don't care. I am curious what people, what the actual reception is. to be. I'm curious about, you know, there'll be a video, there'll be a thank you, there'll be all that other stuff. But like, it would be different if the, the relationship kind of broke up

and it wasn't really that acrimonious in the sense that like the Lakers did something terrible to LeBron or LeBron did something terrible Lakers. He told them in plenty of time that he wasn't coming back. They didn't, he didn't like string along for a really long time. He told him in time. they had also, I think by that point, completely started preparing for me to go. They weren't waiting for him either. Like, I think everybody, as I always said, the longer, the the closer you got to free agency beginning with no reports of actual contact, the more it signaled he ain't coming out. Nobody was surprised. And he didn't wait for two weeks into free agency doing the, am I coming back? Am I not coming back? Whatever it might be.

It wasn't like this horrible breakup, but it also wasn't this incredibly affectionate relationship. So I think a lot of the sort of the storylines, the revenge storylines, the this, that, whatever, part of the reason that I think they're going to be so tiresome is because a lot of them just don't make sense. And so there's going to be an effort to try to make this a bigger thing than I think it organically can be. In some ways, it's a little similar to the Kobe LeBron stuff where, like, there was an effort always to sort of manufacture stuff, like, you know, it's like an on-court rivalry or rivalry between the players that just kind of organically didn't exist.

Lakers fans did love LeBron, but, you know, Kobe fans more specifically. But I am looking forward to the game. I'm just not looking forward to the lead up. No. The lead up, and I'm sure we are. going to be a part of what makes it all suck on some level. We'll try to do our best to be as palatable as possible, but this is going to be a storyline, whether we like it or not, and we wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't discuss it at all. Do you think he'll get booed?

I think he is during the starting five lineup and, you know, obviously the tribute video, I think it will mostly be polite applause. I don't know if it'll quite be standing O, but I think it'll largely be polite, respectful at the beginning, because I think particularly inside the building, like, I've been to a lot of Laker games with LeBron. And I'm not saying that the, you know, the narrative about, you know, large sect of Laker fans not liking LeBron is inaccurate. I actually think it's very accurate. At the very least, a lot of them have been sick of him and have been just waiting for this next chapter to begin. But he does not get booed inside that building. and I don't expect particularly, you know, at that point, several months after his exit,

I think it'll largely be polite-ish applause and stuff during the starting five, probably something between polite applause and standing during the tribute video because that's part of being polite. And then I think he'll get booed a lot during the rest of the game, which is pretty normal for anybody that comes back. I do think, though, that as much as it was not an acrimonious hostile breakup, I think LeBron will really want to win this game. And I think the Lakers' front office and Jeannie will very much want LeBron to lose.

And I'll leave it at that. I would agree with you. And nobody's going to say anything to that effect leading up to it. Nope. Does Luka Donchich have more pressure on him than any other player in the NBA? Kirk Oldsbury believes so we will discuss next. So, Andy, for yesterday's show, we dipped into, was it yesterday we dipped into the Zach Lowe podcast or earlier in the week? I think it was for Monday's full show.

Right. We were talking about Walker Kessler and some of Zach's comments about that in our conversation about players potentially who may or may not out perform their contracts. If you missed that one, make sure you go check it out. Of course, if you're subscribing to the audio product or to the YouTube channel or whatever it is, never miss anything. So please make sure you're doing that. Smash that like button as Andy asked you to do yesterday. Kirk Goldsbury though had some really interesting comments. He and Zach were discussing on the latest version of the latest edition of the show, latest episode about the players with the most pressure on them over the course of the season. And Kirk's answer surprised

me. Yeah, this was on the second part of Zach Lowe's podcast where they've been breaking this down. And when asked to make the case for Luca, Kurt Goldsbury said, quote, the case is that the giant celestial body of the NBA named LeBron James has left Los Angeles, obviously of Philadelphia, that puts this out. The Lakers are now Luca Donchich's team. I think he is the face of the franchise in the NBA. Whoever is the center fielder for the Yankees or whatever, that's the equivalent in the NBA. You're the face of the Lakers. That just comes with immense pressure. We're talking about George Miken, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Kareem Shack, Kobe. There's a big, big expectation when those type of people are coming to watch your games.

I think he pushed a lot for Walker Kessler. I think he has his fingerprints on this next iteration of the Lakers. Last year, he played only 64 games. So, you know, the hope is that he stays healthier. My biggest concern for him is that just actually his well-being, physically being able to stay healthy. He is one of those guys we're looking at with repeated hamstring and calf injuries in the NBA. But if he stays healthy, there's an expectation they are the top three or four teams in the Western Conference that doesn't happen. Laker fans will get pissed off. And it just carries a lot

more weight when you're in Los Angeles as the star player than any other team in the league. Then later the two of them talked about how, you know, obviously he needs to stay healthy and on the court. But at the same time, just 27 years old, he's already been to the finals. He's been a dominant playoff player. As I believe Zach said, quote, people are scared to death to face him in the postseason. He has an answer for every defense. He can throw at him.

He's a genius. He just hasn't had the regular season of regular seasons yet, despite being multiple times the odds on favorite, going into the season to win MVP. In other words, the regular season of all regular seasons winning MVP, but obviously he has a long string of first team, first team all NBA. But not that

the sort of the ultimate right. But that being the case basically just it is truly Luca's team now. Luca is the face of the Los Angeles Eppen Lakers. That by definition brings a lot

of pressure, particularly if you're not say like LeBron when he arrived with this organization basically a made man. Or somebody that hasn't want to title somewhere else. It's an interesting thing to think about because nothing he's saying is wrong. I don't think.

I mean, he is sort of correct in the, like, there is, it is different to be the center of the universe for the Lakers than it is for the Dallas Mavericks. It is a different thing to be the center of the Lakers' unit. universe on a team that also has LeBron because even for two reasons. I mean, I think first and foremost, LeBron is LeBron. It's the reason they're, you know, part of like, you know, playing early in the season. So in that opening week, it's the reason they're playing on Christmas. Like LeBron just attracts that attention.

And so inevitably, there's going to be just a piece of the attention of the storyline or whatever that is not focused on you. And Luca doesn't particularly like that. So he's fine to cede some of that, that part of the spotlight, that part of the gig. But the other part is leadership and being a voice of the team and all these of the, there were certain things that Luca didn't have to do because LeBron was around. And now, you know, he's going to have to do more of that stuff. He's going to be more of a public vocal leader than I think he has been before.

So in that sense, I agree that there's a ton of pressure on. I guess the part you can argue with, and I'm not totally sure of the point, is whether or not it's more than anybody in the league for the simple fact that nobody really expects the Lakers to win a title. Like if Luca goes out and wins, plays MVP caliber ball, and just has the best regular season of his career, I still don't think the Lakers would be favored to win a title. No, I mean, that's part of where the pressure comes, just in terms of, I mean, I realize the Lakers standard, they play for championships that we only care about the playoffs, yada, yada, yada, but there's still the real world and the current NBA is not one that rips off a lot of dynacies or anything like that.

like there's not been a repeat champ in this league this decade. So, you know, everybody has to kind of recalibrate the way we gauge success in the current iteration of this league and the CBA, which I don't like how this works, but I don't get a vote on any of it. So in that sense, like I don't think Luca is under, I don't think Luca is under as much pressure to win a championship right now as the Lakers first. on office is to put him legitimately in a position where he should be expected to do it. Like right now, you cannot expect Luca to carry this team to the finals, much less win at all. So you're, let me stop you there. So you're, and I think you're exactly right. The pressure, until the Lakers kind of do their part, there's going to be less pressure on

Luca. the moment the Lakers seem to have done enough, that's when the pressure shifts back to Luca. Unless Luca's underperforming. I mean, if he's underperforming, then there is a pressure that increases because you are the face of the franchise. But assuming he plays to his level.

Yeah. I mean, there's always some degree of pressure simply because, again, you're the face of this organization, and there are expectations for truly transcendent players like Luca is on an organization like this one. So I'm not going to say there's no pressure. I don't think there's the same degree of pressure that there would be if Luca was the face of a team that really feels like they should be able to rip off a finals run. What I do think, though, is interesting about this is like there's the external pressure that could be placed upon Luca or, you know, those type of expectations.

but then there's how Luca feels about it. And it's interesting that Kirk Goldsbury said these shared this. At a time where, for example, Hoops Height just did a list of the, I believe it was 80 best international players of all time. And Luca came in at nine behind Akima, Elijuan, Dirk Novitsky, Janice, Yokic, Steve Nash, Powell, Gasol, SGA, and Tony Parker. And then he's ahead of Joel and beat at 10. And he is by far the highest ranked international player without a title, without an MVP,

or without an award other than rookie of the year, which obviously is an accomplishment he should be proud of. But it's against the least established competitors by definition because it's all rookies. And then the next highest player in the same boat is Drazan Petrovich, who unfortunately died in his prime, like a few years into his career. and then Yao, whose career was awesome but cut short by injuries. Those guys are closer to 20. And, you know, it's also the athletic had a piece about active or recently retired players and their proximity to the Hall of Fame.

And Luca is the youngest guy in the near-lock tier. And Ant is the only player younger than him in the next tier down that was titled in the mix. And just like in the international rankings, Luca is among the only players that high up without a title or an individual award. And all of this speaks to just how much Luca has done in the NBA in a relatively short amount of time. But also, I think it speaks to, and I don't claim to know Luca well. Like I have not gotten to know him as well as other athletes that I've covered. but he is among the more supremely confident athletes I have ever been around.

And he does not seem like somebody who processes pressure in a way that overwhelms him. Like, I could be wrong about this again. I don't know Luca well at all, but it's not the impression that I get. And based on the impressions of those who actually do know Luca pretty well, it doesn't seem to be the impression that they get either. and look, this could shift once Luca is, again, now truly the face of this organization without LeBron there to share any of that spotlight. Like, you know, it's been Lucas franchise since the moment he arrived,

but LeBron has still shared a lot of that attention. That's gone. That spotlight is now squarely on Luca, and that could change a lot of things. But Luca doesn't strike me as somebody who internalizes pressure in a way that could overwhelm them. Again, I could be wrong, but that's my impression. No, I don't, I don't have any concern at all over, you know, Luca having to sort of occupy this space and somehow going to affect his play. I don't think, you know, the spotlight or the pressure in that regard of having to be awesome is going to be problematic. And we can talk about it on a different

show. You know, I don't, I don't think Luca is, if I had to make my own ranking, of players that on the Lakers who are facing the most scrutiny and pressure, I don't know if I'd have Luca in my top two. So we can discuss that on another show as well. I'm not, when I think about it, I might even bump them down further than that. So more to think about with the Lakers, but we do have the schedule. The full schedule drop is Thursday. Yeah.

We're going to. And then the tournament, the in-season. tournament stuff is Wednesday. Yes. I use that it works. Yeah. Wednesday is the cup schedule and we'll obviously get into that heading into Thursday. And then you get the entire schedule on Thursday and we will cover that heading into Friday.

Yeah. Because the NBA throws us some bones, us, us, podcasters who still put out a daily product that you can be subscribing to both on YouTube and the audio product through Spotify through Apple, however you get them, make sure you are subscribing. Lockdown Liquors on YouTube. I just said all that stuff. You know what?

Come back tomorrow. More show.