Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Tatum's Injury Shakes Up the NBA Offseason, Plus LeBron's Place as an All-Time Laker

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, everyone, welcome to Lockdown Lakers for Wednesday. Brian Komeneski, Andy Komeneski, as the Lakers try to get ready for the offseason, the NBA keeps throwing curveballs. 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 Lockdown Lakers.

Starting point is 00:00:29 First listen of every day Monday through Friday, no matter how where you get your podcast, this one's always going to be free, never behind paywall, and, of course, Lockdown Lakers on YouTube is where over 35,000 subscribers, Andy, are all hanging out, leaving questions, leaving comments. We're going to use some of them today on the show, answering some listener-slash-viewer questions. But they're all wondering exactly how the Lakers are going to attack this off-season. And in that regard, you know, we spent a lot, we really spent most of Tuesday's show talking about the impact of the

Starting point is 00:01:04 shocking results of the draft lottery on potentially what the Lakers do this offseason. What happens in the Western Conference this offseason? Cooper Flagg going to Dallas, the Spurs jumping up to number two, putting them in a prime position to make a move, whether for Janus or someone else. The other part of that, and the news came down officially on Tuesday afternoon, and it's terrible news, really across the NBA, if you're a basketball fan, Jason. Tatum who got hurt in Monday night's game five against the Knicks game four game five um game four I believe um yes because the Celtics are down three one in this series right now the math the math is hard

Starting point is 00:01:50 for me um he gets hurt with about two and a half minutes left in that game um and already by uh Tuesday afternoon um it gets hurt on Monday night by Tuesday afternoon he's already had surgery so He is out for the foreseeable future. And the Celtics now are one of these teams that are hard to predict. And how they handle their offseason could be one of these things that has a ripple effect throughout the league and changes how the Lakers are able to go about doing their business. Because Boston, Andy, had some real big choices they were going to have to make no matter what happens. this season. To reiterate what you were saying before,

Starting point is 00:02:38 this really sucks with Jason Tatum. I don't care how much you love the Lakers. I don't care that Jason Tatum is thus far as Celtics lifer. You are an A-hole if you're happy about this. Just straight up. It's awful to see with one of the best young players in the league who also seems like he's a pretty good dude on top of it.

Starting point is 00:02:59 But like you said, this can potentially change the landscape of the league in the immediate future, but also maybe over the next couple of seasons. First of all, the Eastern Conference playoffs were already really wide open with Boston falling behind the Knicks regardless. But if the Celtics end up getting eliminated by the Knicks as it seems like it's going to happen, then things truly seem very wide open for that side of the bracket because the general consensus was by the prognosticators heading into the playoffs that Boston was going to get back

Starting point is 00:03:35 to the finals. Oh, it was Boston and Cleveland. Like it was Boston and Cleveland were basically inserted into the Eastern Conference finals before it started and both of those teams are on the verge of losing. Right. And then you get to the questions like you said that Boston was going to be facing even if they repeated, but certainly if they didn't, they have an. And, you have an extraordinarily high payroll. I heard Bill Simmons on Zach Lowe's podcast talking about this situation with the Celtics and Tatum's injury. And he noted that the starting lineup for the Celtics is $188 million between those five, like just those five. And you know, you start thinking about, obviously they're not going to be looking to move Jason Tatum now or anything like that. Like you,

Starting point is 00:04:29 you hope for a recover, you get in the space to do it. You know, next season is going to be interesting for the Celtics on a lot of levels. But nonetheless, Jason Tatum, including a player option for $71 million in his final season, he has owed $303 million between now in 2030. Jalen Brown between now in 2020, $235 million. Then you start getting into Derek White owed $124 million through $204 million, 2029. Christopps Borzingis is an expiring contract just under 31 mil. Drew Holiday is, I believe, 116 million through 2028. Hell, even Sam Hauser is owed 45 mil through 2029, which in

Starting point is 00:05:16 and of itself doesn't feel outrageous. But when you put it on top of all of this stuff, for a team that is now really in flux. Like at best, you could hope for Jason Tatum to be back after the All-Star break. Like, that's the most rosy prognosis. And that's not even counting the time that it's going to take for him to really start looking like Jason Tatum again. So that means the Celtics could be even more aggressive in what people were expecting in terms of selling off a few of their parts also in light of the sale of the team impending. Right. And so like it puts them in a situation. I don't know. I don't know what Boston's going to do.

Starting point is 00:06:05 And like, you know, obviously Lakers fans are not rooting for them. But if you know you're going to go into next season at a distinct disadvantage where maybe you can't really bring back Porzingis, you may not be able to fill that hole right away. But like, you know, they've played a lot of games without Chris Stap's Porzingis and been quite competitive. If they'd repeated or something like that, which it looked like they were on a path to be able to potentially do, maybe you hold on to things a little bit longer. But now you have a situation where not only are you unlikely to repeat, you're going to play next season guaranteed a healthy chunk of it without Jason Tatum. Do you as an organization say, you know what? We've still got a lot of good stuff that we can do over time.

Starting point is 00:06:49 And, you know, Tatum ought to be able to. The Achilles injuries are very different now than they were even 10 years ago. You're still potentially devastating. I mean, they're a serious injury. But they are, you know, where they used to be career enders. Right. I mean, I don't think anybody even remembers that Katie had an Achilles injury. You know, like, I wouldn't go that far.

Starting point is 00:07:10 But like, I understand. You understand what I'm getting that. Like, you know, he doesn't look a lot worse for wear for those things. And so, you know, guys, you know, the way that these injuries are repaired is different. The timeline is all different. But with- And Tatum is young, like, unlike a lot of other guys who've suffered Achilles' tears, like the most high-profile guys, Kobe, Clay Thompson,

Starting point is 00:07:35 who was also dealing with an ACL on top of, like, Jason Kidd back in the day. Like, Jason Tatum is, I believe, now 27. So he is considerably, it doesn't matter, too. Considerably younger than a lot of these guys. So the Celtics, the question isn't whether or not, like, you know, every reason to believe that Tatum's going to come back and it's going to be just fine over the long term. But next year, do you take advantage of maybe this kind of a, could be an off year anyway, and get this reset done faster, build up some assets,

Starting point is 00:08:09 unload some contracts that could be more onerous going down the road. I love Drew Holiday, but like he'd be a great example of that. if they do then the Celtics become a team that suddenly has is a player in different ways than people expected in the offseason. That impacts the market. Now you add them to San Antonio. You add them to whatever Dallas does to recreate themselves around a Cooper flag, Anthony Davis, eventually Kyrie Irving Corps. Meanwhile, too, now if you're another Eastern conference team that thinks you have maybe an open. you are hyper aggressive in the market because Cleveland, you know, even if Cleveland comes back and does the same thing they did next, you know, this year, next year, cross your fingers, you don't get the injuries.

Starting point is 00:09:01 This year is shown. All you need is one injury to happen, a couple of, suddenly if you're the third best team in the conference, you're now, you're maybe the first best team. And so teams in the east can afford to try to be incredibly aggressive to take advantage of six or are going to still going to be, you're still going to be, you know, incredibly problematic next year. And a team like Indiana, who now has a chance to at least make the Eastern Conference finals, any question that somebody like Miles Turner might end up available every time, you know, every good game that the Pacers play and, you know, they're playing game five as we're sitting down to record and it's a tight game at halftime. But let's just assume that they beat the, the, the, the, the cabs to finish off that series.

Starting point is 00:09:47 quite honestly, even if they don't, the pacer's have shown enough. I think that they're going to, the hope that somebody like Miles Turner would be available is. That was already, that ship sailed a couple seasons ago. I happen to agree with you. I did just to dock it. I tried really hard to dock it in El Segundo, or at least in the South Bay where you're alongside water. Nobody listened to me.

Starting point is 00:10:15 A short ride to Marina. Yeah. Nobody listened to me, but I did my best. Although it would be interesting if the Pacers knock out the cabs. Maybe Jared Allen becomes available. I mean, so yeah, I mean, you're right. But it's, yeah, I mean, I think the cabs probably run it back and just hope nobody gets hurt again next year. You know, and so, but the point of all this is the landscape around the Lakers who are going to need to be aggressive to try to.

Starting point is 00:10:45 get, you know, improve is shifting dramatically day to day. And there's, it also illustrates one more thing that I know is a principle that you have long argued. And I think you're exactly right about it as it relates to this summer. And I'll tell you why and how you're right, Andy, next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Wayfair. The days are getting longer. The weather's warming up. People are spending more time outside. which means it is the perfect time to refresh your outdoor space. And whether you're working with a big backyard or a small balcony, Wayfair has everything you need to make it feel more like you.

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Starting point is 00:12:14 Every style, every home. So that probably I'm guessing was one of your favorite teases that we've had on the show going into a break in a while. Yeah, I'm really excited to find out what I'm right about. Why Andy is smart next. Yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about. Go on. Most people don't. Come on, dazzle me, baby.

Starting point is 00:12:38 Dazzle me. One of the things that you often say. Celebrate me. One of the things. Regale me with tails of me. Andy Palooza. One of the things that you often say. And I think you're right.

Starting point is 00:12:53 I say so many things. Is that you can't count on your window or, you know, oh, the opportunity will be there next year. The opportunity will be there. If I'm Oklahoma City, I can reasonably think that if I don't do stupid things, we ought to be pretty good for a little while. But you don't know. And windows open and they shut so much. much faster than teams expect. The opportunity is the one that you have in front of you. And while the Lakers have, you know, hard things that they have to figure out around LeBron,

Starting point is 00:13:37 around Austin Reeves, with Luca, whatever, the point is they still have a very good second best player in LeBron. You've got a top five player in the league in Luca Donchich, and the opportunity to figure out how to take that pairing and add Reeves, take away, Reeves, whatever, put it in position to win. And some people might say, you know what, maybe you take it easy next year, you hope that the year following got all this caps-based flexibility,

Starting point is 00:14:08 whatever, you can do that. But then, you know, Luca does get a little bit older. You don't know what the league looks like. Things happen. I don't think the Lakers should do crazy future mortgaging things. But I do think they can't count on, well, we'll just build something around Luca and if it takes a couple of years,

Starting point is 00:14:30 so be it. I don't think they've got to be aggressive and try to compete next year. Well, first of all, they're not going to want to do that just because they don't have Luca inked for the future yet. And while everybody is expecting Luca to sign some form of extension to his liking, Lakers are going to make it very clear. Pick whatever CBA legal option you'd like.

Starting point is 00:14:54 That's the one we're going to give. Even if it's not totally legal, leave that. We'll smooth it out. Don't worry about it. Yeah, just ask Joe Smith and the wolves how that goes. We'll slip Adam Silver a sawbuck. There are a lot of people right now who feel like the league is fungible that way after the Mavs got the number one pick on that.

Starting point is 00:15:14 And we don't have to get into all that again. But a lot of people probably think, you know, you give Adam Silver the right hand shake. That is. I never touched an envelope so cold. It's, it is important for the Lakers, I think, to make sure that they are giving Luca the, they're giving Luca the impression of what things are going to look like if he commits to them. And, you know, they shouldn't make stupid moves to impress Luca or reckless. moves, if for no other reason then that might not even impress Luca. And then you're stuck with your reckless stupid move.

Starting point is 00:15:52 I don't know who Russell Westbrook is for this offseason, but don't trade for him. Right. Exactly. And I do think the Lakers need to consider whatever they do this offseason, because they potentially do stand to have a lot more flexibility and optionality to build a team that they really do like around Luca in the following off season. So I do think they have to consider like, if they try. trade for Nick Claxton, for an example, just because he comes up a lot with the Lakers.

Starting point is 00:16:20 He's under contract for a few more seasons. It's, I think, a pretty reasonable deal, but they need to consider. Like, do we like the idea of Nick Claxton for a few years? Is Nick Claxton worth sacrificing some degree of optionality? Like, you know, whatever it is that you've got. Right. These are things that they do have to consider. But the idea of simply hoarding it and kicking the kick.

Starting point is 00:16:46 hand down the road as like your first motive. I agree with you. That's a bad idea. It's also worth noting when you talked about the aggressiveness that other teams around the league may start operating this offseason given Boston situation and who might be compliable for that roster. That's only going to ratchet up things for the Lakers, not just because they're going to have to keep up with the Joneses, but also because unless the Lakers are offering one hell of a deal to Boston, of these fungible players, or many of them at least, I don't know if Boston's going to trade them to the Lakers.

Starting point is 00:17:23 Well, yeah, it's funny. Like, I'm not thinking of like, I'm not sure who I, on, I mean, there are players, you know, that actually, particularly in their supporting cast, but those are the guys, I mean, I would love a crack at Derek White. I just, I would be surprised if Boston would do that. I'm just saying they're going to have to look, they're going to have to look in other directions as some teams may be more able to deal with Boston than the Lakers. And I think that's true too.

Starting point is 00:17:51 The Lakers still have limited assets and all these other things. But this is also where creativity comes into play because it's not necessarily, oh, the Celtics are go trade for the players on Boston. It's, oh, this team is going to be tried. What really smart teams often do, we see examples of this year to year. where teams, particularly teams that maybe don't have certain assets or whatever, it's like, can you glom on and be the third team in a deal that allows, you know, A and B to do something maybe bigger than what you're doing,

Starting point is 00:18:33 but allows you as the Lakers to at a relatively low cost, pick up a useful player. Years ago, the Lakers did that when they brought in Jeremy Lynn. they got a pick attached to Jeremy Lynn. Like stuff like that. Stuff that, you know, the, the opportunity for the Lakers to be created. Like this is what we were talking about. Like when we say like, I don't want to discount the work of acquiring Luca Dantzich

Starting point is 00:19:00 in the same way that I don't think is fair to discount the work of acquiring Anthony Davis. And, you know, the Lakers want a title. So like that trade has worked out for the Lakers. They have a title. and and all that like you know um but you those weren't the most complicated things in the world the hardest part about the lucca deal was just keeping it quiet um which okay i mean like Rob gets credit for it that goes on his ledger rightly it's permanent record no it should i mean it should but that's not creative that's not what you're talking about right and so it's not

Starting point is 00:19:42 hard. It's not complicated. It doesn't show skill skill. There's no expansiveness involved with it. You just have to land that particular plane. And again, Rob deserves the credit for landing that for landing the plane. So what comes next, though, finding ways to improve the team, to leverage, just using an example, Ruiz expiring contract in a way that improves the team. but also doesn't leave a hole because you know what? Rui is a pretty good player last year and actually was one of the only guys you could look at and say, you know, for his role, actually did all right in the playoffs too. It's like, you know, he wasn't the problem.

Starting point is 00:20:26 So if you trade Rui, you got to figure out, okay, we just gave up a, you know, an effective front court score who, you know, shot the lights out and looks like a legitimate three-point shooter who would, you know, was a great spacer around Luca. You got to replace that. You know, criticisms of Austin Reeves aside, he still was, what, 25, you know, six and five or five and six or whatever it was.

Starting point is 00:20:55 Like that's 12 guys in the league did that. You got to replace that. So it's not easy and you don't have a lot of assets to do it. So the hard part for Polinka is what comes next. And I do think ultimately, the more activity that there is around the league. And this is something Rob anticipated, says there's going to be a busy off season.

Starting point is 00:21:19 It's probably only going to be busier now. The more activity there is, the better it is for the Lakers. That's my initial read on it. You can tell me if you disagree. But that's my read. If there's more stuff going on, there's more opportunities for Polinka to do something that helps the team. Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:21:36 It's always easier to get stuff done or relatively easier when there's action versus no action. We had a couple interesting questions about LeBron James in the mailbag, and that is where we will start next. But not before I tell you that today's episode is brought to you by car gurus. Shopping for a car, it should not be exhausting. It should not be wildly stressful. But whether you're thinking about really trying to figure out confusing prices, hidden fees, it can be completely overwhelming. I have used car gurus last time I bought a car.

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Starting point is 00:23:08 Go to car gurus.com to make sure your big deal is the best. deal. That's car gurus, C-A-R-G-U-R-U-R-U-S dot com. Car-Gurus.com. When we open up the mailbag, there were a couple really interesting questions in there, and they were related to LeBron. And one of them is related to the conversation that we were just having about what are you doing this off-season and this and that.

Starting point is 00:23:38 And we have that comes from Ruel B at Ruel B, this from the YouTube page. Is there a chance that LeB doesn't pick up player option and decides to walk away and sign with a contender like the Cavs or Golden State in the offseason. By the way, low-key admission that he's saying that the Lakers are not a contender. If he does that, you know, what are the chances of LeBron doing something like that? I'll let you.

Starting point is 00:24:02 I have my thoughts, but you go first, Andy. There's always a chance. I would be pretty shocked if it happened. I would be particularly shocked if LeBron. Ron did it in a move to the Warriors because he already had an opportunity to do that and chose not to. And I mean, I don't even know if the Warriors offer him that much more opportunity for a championship than the situation that he's in right now.

Starting point is 00:24:31 And I also don't know how wild he would be about truly joining another team's well-established culture with Steph, as much as they have like a true. respect for each other. Again, he wanted to do this. I think you would have done it by now. Maybe if he wanted to go to Cleveland to end his career there, I suppose it's possible, but he'd have to be willing to take a massive, massive discount to do that. In both places. He's signing for exception money in both places. Right. I'm just, I'm ruling out Golden State altogether. I just, I would be really, really surprised if he did that. If he wanted to do that or was willing to do that for Cleveland, I would then just ask,

Starting point is 00:25:21 why not do it for the Lakers and, you know, help out your current situation more. Like, to be clear, I don't think LeBron is in any way obligated to do it for either team at all. I've said this before, as much as in a capped league, if LeBron truly wants to give. Rob Polinka the most optionality to put the most pieces around him or the best possible. It is required to take that steep of a haircut. I just don't think he is in any way obligated to at all.

Starting point is 00:25:52 But if he's going to do that for the calves, I don't know why he wouldn't do that here. And he's not going to do it for the Lakers, you know, taking a $20 million haircut and signed for 30. He's not going to take an exception somewhere. Again, unless he just says, if that happens, and I agree with you, I don't think it will.

Starting point is 00:26:08 it will become with an announcement, this is my last year. I want to finish it in Cleveland. I do think there's a reasonable chance that he does play one more year in Cleveland before he's done, which actually, I wouldn't bet on it, but I don't think it's a non-zero chance that he spends at least one more year in Cleveland, which leads to the next question. And this comes from Ari Marsh. for a question for the K brothers and all longtime fans and historians,

Starting point is 00:26:39 where does LeBron rank among Laker Greats? Let's say, Andy, that he did decide to leave. And the LeBron thing ended next year or even in a couple years. Where does LeBron rank among Laker Grates based on his legacy or non-legacy in L.A.? Is he even considered a Laker Great? And he gives his list Magic Kobe Kareem, then Jerry West, than guys like Shaq worthy Cooper Gasol. He even puts role players like Fisher and Ori ahead of LeBron.

Starting point is 00:27:09 Without arguing necessarily his list, looking at the big question, what is, where does LeBron for you rank among Laker? Great. Because it's a different question than where are you in an all-time NBA? Right. And this is something I've talked about a lot where the Lakers have such an insanely rich history of success and great. players, Ari had listed, you forgot in reading his piece. He also included Wilt. And that's also

Starting point is 00:27:38 before you get to a guy like Gail Goodrich or, you know, they've, they've had so many just incredible players with this team. And obviously, there's no definitive right way to do this. But what I think is really interesting is just LeBron is this very unusual case in that he was really well-established and decorated and basically a made guy before he joined the Lakers. So his identity has never really changed in any significant way by being a Laker or, you know, the most immediate comp I could think of is Wilt. You know, but at this point, LeBron, assuming he is with the Lakers next year, it's going to be eight years with the Lakers, which side note, and this, I just learned this and it's kind of crazy.

Starting point is 00:28:29 It's mind-blowing, yeah. This will be, assuming LeBron is back next year, eight seasons with the Lakers, the longest consecutive run he's had with any franchise, which is kind of crazy because I think the Lakers are going to be the franchise he's least automatically associated with, you know, over time. But nonetheless, it's the longest, he's longest consecutive period he's ever spent with a team. And, you know, he and Wilt were both one title guys, at least LeBron so far with the Lakers. But LeBron was the focal point of that championship team. He was the finals MVP.

Starting point is 00:29:03 He averaged just shy of 30 points and a near triple double versus Miami, whereas Wilt was the third leading score on that team. He did average 23 rebounds a game. So it wasn't exactly just a long for the ride. He wasn't loafing. Right. But like LeBron has been here longer, did more in a title. So I feel like in all honesty, he should be above Wilt.

Starting point is 00:29:27 but Wilt feels the closest. And LeBron's time also here didn't really do much, I think, to elevate his legacy other than just unprecedented longevity. But that theoretically happens regardless of where LeBron plays. And like even the records that he sent set as a Laker, A, they feel like it's great. It's awesome that he set them in a Laker uniform, but they feel like they would have been set anywhere. Right. As long as he was playing, he would have.

Starting point is 00:29:57 have set those records. And even then, I was thinking about some of these other ones like, or other achievements, you know, when he passed, say, Kobe on the all-time scoring list. Like, that was a really cool moment. It happened in Philadelphia, which is just perfect, considering his work Kobe grew up. And Kobe was really gracious about it. He called LeBron. You know, LeBron saved that voicemail. Everyone on the team plane had been talking about it. And then almost immediately afterwards, Kobe dies in the helicopter crash. So the aftermath, and I think the way people even think about that moment, it's unfortunately connected to a tragedy.

Starting point is 00:30:34 So it's like you don't even really get to relish in the idea of Laker passing Laker, icon passing icon because there's so much sadness attached to it. And then like the championship, the 2020 championship, it's in the bubble. And I don't mean that like there's an asterisk. It counts just as much as the others. It was a difficult achievement like any championship. but we've heard from enough Laker fans to know.

Starting point is 00:30:59 They don't feel the same attachment to it because it was so far away. So, like, LeBron's time as a Laker, I've said this many times. I still think it's accurate. The word I always used to describe it is weird. And I think this is just another example of the weirdness attached to it. Like, it's hard to peg where he lands in all this. you're getting at what I my big question about this like there's a there's one test like to be an all-time laker great at the very least there's one test that you have to be able to pass in order to be

Starting point is 00:31:39 on that list and keep in mind I say this as saying the lebron james is the best player ever play basketball like professional basketball he's better he's better i think he's better than jordan um he's better than koreen in the nba and all that stuff when you close your eyes and you picture LeBron James and you know just LeBron James picture him in a uniform what percentage of people are going to pick the Lakers and picture him in a Lakers uniform other than you know nine year olds who've never seen them play anywhere else anybody anybody who's 25 and older who's been a basketball fan for their for most of their lives you know if I'm a 13 year old kid and you know 10 year old kid and I start watching basketball and now I'm 30

Starting point is 00:32:26 And I picture LeBron James in a uniform. It's not going to be in a Laker uniform. No. For most people. And so that to me automatically then puts him behind magic Kobe, Kareem. Because like Kareem, yes, he played for Milwaukee. Everybody pictures him in a Lakers uniform. Right.

Starting point is 00:32:44 Gary West, obviously, you know, worthy. Same kind of thing. Michael Kui was a lot. Same thing. You know, even somebody like Powell, you know, you can start making an argument. I mean, Powell only had one more title, but I think more people think of Powell Gasol as a Laker than think of LeBron James as a Laker. And for a lot of the reasons that you were mentioning there, you know, Shaq, even though he bounced around to 800 different teams and won a title in Miami, probably more associated. Like, if you close your eyes and you think of Shaquille O'Neal, you're thinking of him in a Lakers uniform.

Starting point is 00:33:21 I mean, and so repeat, four finals appearances in five years. Plus, I mean, to be in all honesty, the majority of the drama that happened in Shaq's career. Jack being Shaq's most shacky years. Yeah. With the Lakers. Yeah. So like that's, that to me is the thing that like it just knocks. And they'll probably even still give LeBron a statue when it's all said and done.

Starting point is 00:33:43 But like it knocks him way down for me on these sort of all-time Lakers grades. Oh. Just because. all the stuff you listed and then he for me fails in air quotes that test because you know this you know you want to argue about ory or fish or guys like that you know well that's where sentiment we can start getting the greatness thing and we don't we we don't have necessarily have time we leave us in the comments what you think about sort of where you put it but it is an interesting question and it just goes to show the difference between being a great

Starting point is 00:34:20 for a specific team versus greatness over the course of your career. Well, the last thing I was going to say is when Ari mentioned guys like Fisher and Ori, and I think even to a certain degree, someone like Michael Cooper, who they are all great Lakers and all had great success with the Lakers, and they've mattered a lot to the Lakers, and I'm not trying to take any of that away. But those guys, if you're putting them ahead of LeBron, a lot of that is on sentimentality, which is totally fine, by the way. It's totally fine.

Starting point is 00:34:50 These lists are not official. They're imprecise. They're whatever you want them to be. But what I think is most interesting about that is it is a reminder that I think for the majority of Laker fans that we hear from and we hear from an awful lot of them for a very long time, they've never been attached to LeBron that way. They may appreciate him. They damn sure should respect him. but they've never been attached to him as a Laker, the way that they have been attached to many, many, many others.

Starting point is 00:35:25 Because Kareem's greatness as a player, you can argue, people are in due, argue, you know, Michael Thompson, our friend at 710 ESPN, analyst for the Lakers on the radio broadcasts, argues for cream over everybody, Clay's Dad. Overuse for Cream over everybody. And so people make that, most people, although we consider LeBron's great,

Starting point is 00:35:44 greater than Kareem's. Most people would consider LeBron's greatness greater than magics. Nobody would argue, though, that LeBron was greater in a Lakers uniform than either of those guys, or Kobe, or anyone like that. But it's a fascinating

Starting point is 00:36:00 argument and it gets into all kinds of things about what fandom really is. So we appreciate the questions from everyone. Keep it coming over the course of the offseason. Lockdown Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 35,000 subscribers. See everyone tomorrow.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Tatum's Injury Shakes Up the NBA Offseason, Plus LeBron's Place as an All-Time Laker

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