Lakers Lounge

The Lakers are just the latest example of nepotism's typical impact. Because a listener asked Anthony to grade Jim and Jeanie's tenures, he runs through the last 13 years since they took over. When you go through the seasons in order and the processes that led to key decisions, you can see why the franchise has been sputtering. From there, he dives into what he thinks are the likeliest Lakers rotations for this season and answers as many questions has he possibly can.

Anthony runs through the seasons where the Lakers have been run by the Buss siblings, to compare them to what it was like when Dr. Buss was running things because a listener wanted to know how he'd grade this era. As you'll find out, it's been a bit of a mess.

A live viewer asked whether it's fair to hold Rob Pelinka to the expectations set by Jerry West, so Anthony explained why he thinks Lakers fans HAVE to continue to demand a lot of this franchise. He did this after wrapping up a conversation about the likely rotation and the assumption the front office made that he doesn't think will end well.

The Athletic did some reporting on the current state of things and Anthony found very telling about the people currently running the Lakers. He adds some of his own context and discusses why the Lakers should probably just hit reset on the front office after this season.

Some Lakers employees said how they really felt about Mark Walter's Dodgers people helping with the Lakers and kinda/sorta told us a lot about themselves. Anthony reads between the lines and explains why everyone there probably needs to go.

Listeners wanted to know how long this situation between Jeanie Buss and her sibling is going to last, so Anthony outlines a tentative timeline and explains the impact all this might have on the organization.

The offseason is over but for a couple t's or i's that need crossing or dotting. Anthony is really concerned about how it went, especially given the opportunity cost. Pete tries to talk him off the ledge. Do you think he was successful?

The Lakers spent quite a few transaction cycles lining up this summer. Now that it's mostly over, Anthony finds himself wondering if this outcome was worth it. He doesn't think so; Pete does. So they debate their different takes on how this all played out.

Anthony is legitimately concerned about this roster. Pete is disappointed in the offseason but is much higher on this group than Anthony. So, Pete tries to sell Anthony on this summer, starting with its biggest acquisition.

The state of things isn't great. Not great at all. Anthony and Harrison discuss everything there is to discuss in this Kuminga decision, then turn their attention to Jeanie Buss, who made her priorities crystal clear by suing her siblings (again).

Jonathan Kuminga chose the Timberwolves over the Lakers. Several things had to go wrong for this outcome and multiple things can be true at the same time. Anthony runs through those things, then he and Harrison discuss what this means.

The Lakers told us to wait for this summer, and that doing so despite having some combination of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic would all be worth it. Hard to feel like they've lived up to that promise now.

Anthony and Harrison wrap up their conversation about Jeanie Buss (once again) suing her siblings. They answer a couple questions from the live audience to wrap things up.

DISCLAIMER: This was recorded about an hour or so before Jonathan Kuminga agreed to a deal with the Timberwolves. So yeah, should be a funny listen at the least.Reports surfaced connecting Jonathan Kuminga to the Bulls and Anthony had enough. He rants and raves about how Kuminga's camp has handled all of this and how sick of it the league has become. Word also dropped that Jeanie Buss is suing her siblings. Good times. We're having fun. So much fun.

A little more reporting has dropped lately about the Kuminga situation, so Anthony rolls through it and launches into a rant about Kuminga and his camp not accepting reality.

After Anthony wrapped up the conversation about Kuminga, word dropped that Jeanie Buss has filed to remove her siblings from any decision-making capacity with the Lakers, a move that hammers home how unfit she is to continue as governor of the franchise.

Anthony mourns the loss of Dolly Parton, as her passing was announced right before he went live. He segues awkwardly to JJ Redick's upcoming season, and wonders whether Redick can maintain the same trajectory he's been on through his first two seasons.

JJ Redick has some hard-line rules for players who get consistent minutes for him. Anthony thinks there are ways this roster lines up with those rules but some that don't. Redick has grown as a coach to this point and that will have to continue.

Anthony explains that, even while JJ Redick may have been hired for some of the wrong reasons, he thinks Redick has real staying power -- making him a sort of Lakers Ted Lasso. From there, he gives his prediction for Redick's season and answers a couple questions from the live audience.

Anthony updates you on the Lakers' ownership battles and the role Adam Silver might now play in them. He also noticed ESPN dipping into a familiar source for drudging up offseason content intrigue. He answers from questions from Twitter and the live audience and calls it a day.

Anthony reacts to the notion that Adam Silver is getting involved in the Lakers ownership fight and does a little reporting of his own on the matter.

As part of the Q&A, a listener was curious whether all the change atop the organization will affect how the front office approaches this upcoming season. Anthony also answers a question about whether he thinks this is a championship-level roster right now and the role Austin Reaves plays in that analysis.

The Peyton Watson trade helps the Lakers in more ways than one, even if they would've loved to land him. Anthony discusses that situation, then dives into an iTunes mailbag that he desperately needed to address. He wraps with a Q&A that touches on some really fun topics, including his stupid Vikings.

Anthony sifts through the dust settling after the Nuggets salary dumped Peyton Watson and discusses the Lakers' impact on Denver's approach to that situation as well as some of the downstream effects of their decision to trade Watson when they did.

Anthony missed a few questions in the iTunes mailbag and, in reading back, noticed a trend in how fans felt about the offseason initially and how they've bought into the moves over the course of the last couple months. From there, he actually answers all the questions he missed.

No one considered quitting the Lakers when Mark Walter bought the Lakers, and his investment portfolio has a few things in common with the new owners some fans say they can't support. Anthony explains why he personally is going to continue rooting for the Lakers and why he honestly won't feel that conflicted doing so.

Anthony looks at things through his prism. Harrison and he see things pretty similarly. So, Anthony brings in Raj to get a better sense of what a Lakers fan might feel about these billionaires fighting over a team people genuinely care about, generationally.

The Lakers have changed ownership three times in the last year or so. This time has come with an extra side of billionaire drama. You know how Anthony feels about this, but how about Raj, who looks at things through a very different prism?

The Lakers have changed hands frequently enough that even die-hard fans like Raj are looking at the team like a distressed asset.

"That is NOT YOUR GIRL."

Jeanie Buss is fighting back against her siblings over their decision to sell the remaining stake in the Lakers and arguing that only she understands what is best for the Lakers. Anthony... doesn't quite see it that way. He explains how we got here, where he'd like to go and the question that he keeps running into.

Anthony lays out the painstaking steps taken by all involved to eventually arrive at this clusterbleep in an effort to explain why he doesn't think any of this has ever been about what is best for the Lakers.

The Lakers are mere weeks from training camp. Luka's own minicamp starts in days. Anthony doesn't think dragging out litigation with siblings over the ability to run the team is the move if Jeanie Buss wants to keep telling us all she cares about is what's best for the team.

Anthony and Harrison react to the late shitstorm this summer has put all of us through.

Anthony and Harrison react to the end of the Buss-Lakers era. Anthony draws from the Game of Thrones universe to explain how fans feel about all this.

It's hard to hire people when they don't know who their boss might be, turns out.

With all this nonsense flying around, Anthony makes the argument that it makes it even more important that the now owners step in and make a splashy hire if they overhaul the front office.

Anthony and Harrison wrap up their conversation about all this madness with a Jeanie-Little Finger comparison and the notion that maybe, just maybe Jonathan Kuminga might be the big winner here. That and more in an extended Q&A.

Let's just say a lot of ground was covered in the episode. We could try to describe it but you wouldn't believe us anyway.

Anthony and Pete hadn't spoken on the pod in a little while and whew boy a lot happened. They catch up and react to the shocking news that the Lakers have been sold for the second time in less than two years. Anthony rants about Adam Silver.

Under the Buss siblings, the Lakers obviously weren't optimized, but since Jeanie sold the team, it's been off-court distraction after off-court distraction. Lakers fans have clearly had enough. Also, Anthony pokes and prods Pete about the roster as it's currently built and whether they would've changed anything along the way to avoid needing Jonathan Kuminga the way they do.

The NBA dropped every team's schedules and the Lakers' follows several recent trends. Anthony discusses those, what he's heard since yesterday's craziness regarding the sale of the franchise and a few other topics the live audience wanted to hear about.

Anthony has broken down more than a few schedules in his time covering the team and there are a few rules this one followed as well. He discusses that, the number of national tv games they have and the latest regarding the sale of the franchise.

The Lakers brand is one of the strongest in all of professional sports. The notion that they were going to lose a big chunk of their nationally televised games simply because LeBron James left was always a farce. Anthony breaks that down and wraps with a few more questions from the live audience.

Anthony and Harrison discuss a truly shocking turn of events, as Mark Walter has sold the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. They go through some of the key details, discuss greener pastures, try to find some silver linings and answer questions from the live audience.

Anthony starts the show solo to update you on what we know right now about the Lakers being sold and why, then Harrison finally shows up to discuss the phrasing in Bob Iger's statement about honoring Jeanie Buss' deal with Mark Walter.

Anthony and Harrison wrap up their conversation about grass not necessarily getting greener on the other side of the fence, then discuss some reasons for optimism heading into the Iger era. The wrap with several questions from the live audience.

Anthony welcomes Andy Kamenetzky (Locked On Lakers, ESPNLA) to debate what they think the biggest gamble is Lakers history is or was. They discuss the couple games that were announced earlier Tuesday and wonder how Lakers fans will respond to LeBron James' return to L.A.

Anthony believes Walker Kessler is the biggest gamble in Lakers history. Andy Kamenetsky thinks it's Kobe. The guys present their cases and launch their brutal blood feud with each other.

Anthony and Andy wrap up their Kessler conversation, then dive into the couple of games that were announced earlier Tuesday. Lakers-Warriors is pretty uninspired. Lakers-Sixers was also pretty predictable but significantly more fun to think about.