Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

Lakers lose, 139-116 with LeBron James on the sidelines. Darvin Ham said following Monday's game that he didn't come to Los Angeles to lose, and the Lakers didn't bring him to LA to lose... but that's what the team is doing right now. Monday's 139-116 loss to the Jazz in Utah dropped them to 2-8, an already big hole in a brutally competitive conference. LeBron James missed Monday's game with a nagging foot injury, and Ham said they'll have to monitor his minutes going forward. That's not good...

The brief glint of optimism around the team's offense has disappeared...

It was fun while it lasted. The Lakers have fallen back into (even earlier) early season habits around bad shooting and stagnant offense. Both were on display Sunday as the Lakers lost to Cleveland at the Crypt, falling to 2-7 on the year with a Monday game against the surprisingly excellent Utah Jazz (who spanked the Lakers in LA on Friday). Anthony Davis was strong early, but invisible down the stretch, scoring no points in the fourth quarter for the third straight game...

(Note: This episode was recorded before the Nets announced their suspension of Kyrie Irving.) The Lakers and Nets have made some of the NBA's biggest, splashiest and most impactful moves over the last few seasons. But while both teams have made headlines (and more headlines, and more after that) neither franchise has actually done much winning. The Lakers have disintegrated in the standings, and the Nets have become the type of non-stop chain of fires that can't seem to be controlled...

It hasn't gone well for LA or Brooklyn over the last couple of years...

Despite an uneven night from LeBron James, the Lakers get their second win of the season.

Wednesday's thrilling overtime win over New Orleans felt like a change of pace for the Lakers not just because they won - but because it spared everyone some genuine heartbreak and the Lakers were actually the beneficiary of some good fortune (namely two critical missed free throws). Plus, it gave everyone indelible moment, from Matt Ryan drilling a game-tying 3-pointer to Austin Reaves making the clutch pass to get it to him to Darvin Ham drawing up the play to begin with...

Westbrook plays well again, Darvin Ham's rotation evolves, and optimism is creeping in?

The great SI writer weighs in on the state of the franchise, and SI's new Lakers book!

Sports Illustrated has a great new book out on the Lakers, which compiles decades worth of great writing about the team by its iconic hoops writers into one volume. And the forward? Written by the great Howard Beck (who also contributes a story about Kobe Bryant's influence on the Lakers even after his death). The man knows the organization, having covered the Shaq/Kobe teams for the LA Daily News, and its management structure. He gets the culture, and the ethos...