Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 90 days 15 hours 3 minutes
As always, context matters in the preseason. The Lakers lost again Thursday, but played without LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Kendrick Nunn, Patrick Beverley, Dennis Schröder and Troy Brown Jr.. Doesn't matter if you think this season won't be that good, if you remove those seven dudes from any game the results will be ugly. Particularly since the Wolves used their regular rotation...
In keeping with the theme of the Lakers' preseason so far, the Lakers remain winless, this time 119-115 against the Phoenix Suns, but it was another game where the players who mattered... and played... provided fans with increasing optimism about what may lie ahead when the real contests begin. Anthony Davis was a last minute scratch with lower back tightness, but LeBron James had a dominant first half of 23 points (8-11 FG) and great activity on both sides of the ball...
Many play well, but Anthony Davis rests against Phoenix. Too soon to worry?
What do execs expect from LA this season? (Spoiler: Not much...)
Every year, NBA.com produces the GM poll, asking execs around the league all sorts of questions about players, teams, coaches and beyond. In most years, the Lakers and Lakers players are well represented, given their high profile, high expectations, star power and so on. This year, however, when it comes to the Lakers the results are notable mostly because the Lakers are an afterthought. LeBron James pops up in a couple of categories, Darvin Ham in another...
On Monday's show, it was noted that context is a big thing when evaluating preseason scores. That's definitely the case for Monday's 105-75 loss to Sacramento in the Lakers' preseason opener. 30 points is a blowout, but for the parts of the game where LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook played, the Lakers looked significantly better than that score...
Anthony Davis plays well, and the important parts of the game contained many positives
Last season, the Lakers approached the preseason with an attitude of a team that believed it was championship caliber, had plenty of veteran experience and could afford to, well, ease into the season. The pretend games? Whatever...
The Lakers are taking this preseason a little more seriously than last, thankfully.
Plus, how close was DeMar DeRozan to playing for the Lakers, really?