Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

The weekend's All Star Game was, by most reviews, a shammockery of a basketball game. Even by exhibition standards, there was no defense, or any real interest in playing something that could be recognized as an NBA type game. But at least nobody got hurt, even though for a minute, it looked like LeBron James might have done the unthinkable, suffering some sort of hand injury in the first half of Sunday's game...

It's put up or shut up time for James and his teammates. And can Russ work with the Clippers?

The return of D'Angelo Russell to Los Angeles might not move the needle on a national level like, say, Kevin Durant being traded to Phoenix. But that doesn't mean it's not a super-intriguing hoops story. In his first go with the Lakers, an immature Russell was sent out to make room for a different point guard the franchise hoped would be the player to lead them back to glory in Lonzo Ball. It didn't happen. After leaving L.A...

Scouting Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt with Ben Beecken of Locked on Wolves

The Lakers needed a win in basically every way on Wednesday at home vs. New Orleans. They needed it in the standings, where a loss would push them even further behind one of the teams they're trying to track down. They needed it mentally, because heading into the All Star break on consecutive losses would be a tough thing to sit on. And with all that on the line, they got it, and in rather impressive fashion, too. 120-102, in a game they started hot and finished strong...

Darvin Ham shook things up, and the results were strong.

David Locke of Locked On Jazz delivers a scouting report on two of the new Lakers

Much of Monday's show was dedicated to the question of whether Dennis Schröder ought to be in the starting lineup for the Lakers and Darvin Ham. Apparently, it wasn't enough to quell any controversy, particularly after the Lakers were wiped out in Portland and Schröder was a non-factor...

The Lakers entered Portland on a small winning streak, but more importantly, fresh off a strong road win against the Warriors, despite LeBron James being shelved with a persistent foot/ankle issue. This game against the Trail Blazers also featured no King, but their opponents were missing Jerami Grant and Jusef Nurkic, and the Lakers' collective confidence seemed high enough to make a night of it in a tough environment...

The Lakers are running out of time to get themselves in the playoff mix.