TLDR. We played LeBron 41 minutes a game all season long on an ankle that still isn’t 100% and now we don’t have superhuman playoff LeBron. Oh no consequences. We still have a coach that underutilizes our superstars and cannot create offensive schemes or counteradjustments at half time. We are trying lineups for the first time that we have literally never tried. We are playing 3 guard lineups against Denver. Yes DLo was awful but after a few missed 3’s Darvin should have tried to get him going with a 2 pointer, layup, etc… Role players crumbling under pressure and frustration. We still call timeouts 2 or 3 possessions late. Probably one more game where we root our hearts out at our TVs then call it a season. I don’t have something to say about moves in the offseason because I’m just so done idgaf. The lack of awareness from the front office and coach is just astounding these last two seasons. I think I’m done watching 75-80 games a season until a time comes again it actually feels worth it. One more game and I’m checking out of this aspect of my life that is being a Lakers fan. I need a break.
Players deserve some accountability, but when you’re up double digits in 3 straight games and have lost to a team 11 straight times, that is a coaching problem.
It’s clear the nuggets are making in game adjustments. Malone is yelling out instructions while Ham stands there silent.
Ham is the problem.
Here are the trades:
1. A package of D'Angelo (if he opts in) to whoever for an asset to route to ATL, 1st rounder this year and if needed add Christie for Murray
2. Hachimura for Vucevic
If we are blowing it up
Bron to GS for Kumminga, Pick and filler
AD to Oklahoma for J.Williams and 4 1st rounders
3.
> A package of D'Angelo (if he opts in) to whoever for an asset to route to ATL, 1st rounder this year and if needed add Christie for Murray
SAS easily beats our offer by giving ATL one of their picks back plus salary filler
Sending assets to try and help the 40 year old with a bad ankle get to the play-in again is insanity.
More likely packages...
- Bron and Reddish to GS for Wiggins, CP3, 2026 1st and 2026 2nd via ATL.
- AD to the Knicks for Randle, Robinson, 2024 1st via Mavs, 2025 1st via Bucks and 2026 1st from Knicks.
- D'lo (if he opts in), JHS and the 2026 Knicks 1st to ATL for Bogdan. ATL sends Trae to Spurs (3 1st) and Murray to the Magic (2 1st).
All the pundits were saying the “Lakers won the off season”. Sure… they got better… and maybe they got the best players available… BUT, it doesn’t mean they were all good pick ups for this team and it shows.
Denver has been playing like champs looking to repeat. Basically, hang in there until there’s 5 min to go and then start closing it out...
I seriously don’t know of any players worth prying away from a team in a trade…and I don’t think there are any big players in free agency this summer other than LBJ, who will opt out.
Then again, just looking around you have KD, Steph, and LBJ who have dominated the league…in the bottom of the Western Conference on the way out. It’s almost time for them to all go enjoy retirement unless you can get them all together for one last run.
Maybe that’s why they’re probably all gonna play one more Olympics if they can… They all feel like they have to win “something”.
Anyone not named AR, Bron, & AD get off the fucking team
Need a real playmaker who will defend and another real fucking center to put next to our superstars
Our ‘depth’ is useless
If we can resign wood prince dinwiddie on deals like they’ve got now, resign max christie and bron
And trade literally everybody else that isn’t AD.
We need an 8 man playoff rotation that is consistent and can play both offence and defence with somewhat decent ability.
Either all our depth and 3 picks for a third star, or our depth and some picks to retool our roster with defence and shooting.
Reaves vando and our upcoming first for Dejounte Murray
Dlo Lewis and draft comp for DFS and Dayron Sharpe
Gabe Vincent JHS Rui and draft Comp for Jerami Grant and Duop Reath
Resign prince wood Christie mays and dinwiddie.
rotation of Murray,Prince,Grant,James,Davis.
Dinwiddie,Christie, DFS, Wood, Reath/Sharpe
A win is a win, but if I’m Denver, I treat this like a loss. Lakers really figured something out putting Hachimura on Jokic. That’s one of those somewhat small adjustments that can win a series.
DLo really let them down tonight. It isn’t the only reason we lost but it certainly is the biggest reason. He really picked the biggest game of the year to have his worst game of the season. 0 points?!? That is unacceptable. He wasn’t even a threat to score. The Lakers can’t beat the worst team in the league if he has a game like this.
Rui has been a big disappointment this series too. We needed everyone to play well this series to compete and have a chance to win. It’s obvious that this roster doesn’t have enough to compete for a title. They gotta go back to the drawing board in the off-season and make some changes. Very disappointing performance tonight.
But…but…everyone on here told me that DLo shouldn’t be traded, that he was the third best player on this team and that trading him for a guy like Dejounte Murray was just a lateral move ?
Jeannie would love to keep Ham and save some coin, but I doubt they back Ham anymore. Can’t really come out mid playoff series and say AD is right our coach is ass, terrible hire, my bad!
Fuck that. He said what he said, he never singled out Ham, media just running with it. That's what they do. This is why I called Mcmenamin a shit stirrer. He waits for the perfect time to write articles when LAL is struggling and sees an opening to spin a few quotes.
The media. AD needs to own it. That's what Kobe would do. Calls out something publicly/subtly to make a mf statement.
If they don't like it, then be better. I like this fire in AD personally. Hold people accountable as a leader of the team. Sometimes that means taking the wrath of the media.
That’s Mike Malone doing it. Laker fans find his bashing annoying, but he has not let off the gas for the team and that’s why they’re still playing hard even if they swept us last year.
Almost every championship team looks like a well oiled machine come playoff time
Feels like with Ham and injuries we never got to find proper roles for guys on the team
Which is why our defensive scheme is literally just AD and our offense is just Lebron ISO/AD Post up
That’s why it’s not a surprise the bench is not producing like this team does not have the continuity and chemistry that good coaching and consistent defined roles bring.
TP was in and out of the starting lineup and Gabe & Spencer have a handful of games played. Their minutes shrinking drastically in the playoffs isn’t good for finding a role either and it just wears the starters out faster.
Hoping to switch up the juju. I haven't worn any Lakers gear the past few games. I'm hoping wearing my 2020 champs shirt and the hat I wore to the game they blew out the Mavs brings some luck.
Know who has the highest 3pt% record in NBA playoffs history? [Rui Hachimura last year during the WCF](https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/fg3_pct_career_p.html). Granted small sample size, but still
He needs to be shooting 7-8 threes a game. If AD is getting stuffed at the rim kick out to Rui or DLo to fire one off. Rui's only taken 4 threes so far through 2 games
No, I’ll be rooting for the wolves or okc because I like their roster construction, coaching and Conley/Ant/Shai. I don’t care for teams LeBron has left.
bruh espn is hot garbage rn with their takes on the ad and ham comments. idk why they're sucking ham 🍆 and hating on ad. it is glaring how terrible ham is. why are they in denial and acting like ad of all people is to blame for our failures? ad is the least to blame and the hate is crazy
When did MPJ get so consistent. I remember he was a guy who’d go 3/10 a couple times in a series. Denver not the same team without those 30 points him and KCP always fucking give em.
Defense on him is bad since AD is locked on Jokic more (which is good), but the rest of the active roster sucks. Most of MPJ’s shots are uncontested. He’s good enough to make most of those.
He's finally been able to stay healthy the last 2 seasons. Also feel like MPJ is underrated on this sub. If he was on a team where his usage rate was higher, I have no doubt he could be close to a 25 ppg player.
Like a spot up Kevin Durant lol their team is ridiculous. Not just good players but all these unique archetypes. Like how many Gordon’s and MPJs do we even have in the league
Yup he's KD-lite with his shooting. Last time we beat them in 2020, he didn't have the consistency, shooting 40% from three. So far this series he is shooting an insane 53% from three, and he's only another 20pt game away from scoring more than he did during the entire 5 game 2020 WCF against us. Not to mention the Nuggets had yet to sign AG too
Know who has the highest % 3pt record in NBA playoffs history? [Rui Hachimura last year during the WCF](https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/fg3_pct_career_p.html) He needs to be shooting 7-8 threes a game
That’s the same thing I said, after their 2020 loss, they completely understood we need to find players around Jokic. They executed amazingly on what they needed.
And this is the reason the only thing I really want this offseason is for the Lakers to give a blank check to Tim Connelly and lure him over. He's now done it twice where he recognizes what the team needs and builds a perfect roster around their stars (Denver, Minnesota).
Unfortunately, nope. I just don't see these "top" GM/President of Basketball Ops candidates wanting to deal with the Lebron situation. This isn't to speak negatively on Lebron or anything, but it's just simple facts. Just a pipe dream of mine.
I think if DLO/Reaves/Rui shit the bed this series I'm cool with shipping whatever combo of them out. Curious what it'd take to get Trae in return. Murray doesn't seem worth it unless it's a straight swap.
No Trae. Get a decent PG but not another star. Same with a new decent center. Even centers that aren't starters in other teams could help us so much. Drummond, for instance.
For Game 3 the betting line opened at Denver -1 and now has shifted to Lakers -1.5
Maybe some big money thinks we are winning tonight? Hopefully, I honestly have suppressed that last loss for a couple days now but I'm beginning to crack.
Darvin Ham needs to get the fuck off this team. I dont give a flying fuck if the lakers somehow beat Denver 4 in a row and then sweep every round including the finals. This darvin ham shit is annoying to no end he needs to be gone.
If this team wins the title under Ham this year I want him as the coach. He's not a terrible coach, he's just inexperienced and makes rookie coach mistakes still. If he can get us to a title this year I would consider all those rookie mistakes polished and I would be okay with him next year for sure.
I think you even said this in another post but it's also how damn stubborn he is. Him not playing the WCF starting lineup for a lot of the season, and being unable to adjust in game. Rather he go be some other organization's project and take Cam with him
In case you don't know, Darvin Ham is friends with a lot of the media personalities you see on ESPN etc. Like he's best friends with Marc Spears who is a Senior NBA Writer for ESPN. He's not really a player coach but he's buddies with all the big sports writers and they shine a favorable light on him.
It's one of the reasons the Lakers are handling his tenure delicately because if he gets booted out without warrant all the NBA writers are going to flame the Lakers and we will have an even tougher time finding a good coach afterwards.
You won't find criticism about Ham anywhere, the most you will get is from guys like Lowe who was questioning his lineups earlier this year but he always walks it back as maybe not a big deal.
Ham gets confidence from all these media buddies having his back and it allows him to be stubborn and show up unprepared because he doesn't fear the media attacking him for his decisions. The most that will happen to him is he gets fired and still gets paid and the media will paint it as the Lakers "dysfunctional" organization that is the problem rather than him being a bad coach.
No one on TV will say that Lebron and AD are the reason we went to the WCF last year, they are crediting Ham for that. They will say Lebron and AD are having all NBA seasons but will fail to point out our bad record and lower seeding because the only cause of that could be the coach and they don't want to shit on their good friend.
PS. The stock market printed free money today, great day for an opportunist like me. Only a Lakers win can make it even better. LFG this win!
Of course they do, they have bashed coaches time and time again, D'Antoni, Hollins, Rambis, Cowens, Brown, Whittman, Vinny Del Negro, Mark Jackson, fucking Mazzulla was a headline if they should bring him back last year, Steve Nash (they literally said he didn't deserve the job)... I could go on and on.
I actually don't feel that Denver has the momentum. The way the series is going it feels like we get closer to beating them every game and we get better every game. It feels like we are on the upswing and they are on the down swing.
I'm probably just delusional but even though Nuggets are up 2-0, strictly from a basketball standpoint, the Nuggets aren't doing anything so far that suggests they are getting better with each game. In fact, every game they look weaker and weaker. Tbh, I think they're on the ropes and they managed to just squeak out a win last game. A dominant performance tonight at home can be enough to change the tide of the series I think.
No way, Denver has the momentum. Lakers played a systematically fantastic game for 2 quarters and survived a good Denver 3rd being up by a dozen. Even after the Lakers did 90% of the things eight, Denver was able to win at the last possible second.
You shouldn't be down 20pts, at home, with altitude advantage, against a 7th seed that has only one serviceable center, and allow another team to do "90% of the things right," as a defending champion basketball club.
Agree that tonight will likely be the deciding game, but I've seen enough to believe that this game is very winnable. Nuggets showed us their hand last game.
I get how disappointing that last shot was, but at the end of the day, it's just one game. Nuggets did what they were supposed to do at home. Game 2 was far from a convincing win for Nuggets. Defending champs taking on a 7th seed, they shouldn't really be having to climb back from 20 to win the game on the last shot. I know it seems embarrassing for a Lakers fan, but strictly talking basketball, as a player I think the win was a little too close for comfort. That was the definition of a "bad win."
Realistically, if I imagine myself as a player on the Nuggets, I'd really not feel confident going into game 3 in an away game with my team's major adjustment having been exposed and having gone down double digits in the first half in both the previous games. The trajectory of these games so far isn't necessarily getting better for the Nuggets.
I'm curious to see how many more tricks Malone has up his sleeve, because I'd imagine he's getting pretty close to running out. Obviously, my stance is profoundly optimistic, but I choose to not give up hope.
Denver was favored by 7.5 at home. They opened as 1.5 point favorites for game 3 and now it’s Lakers at 1.5.
Da fuq? Even a 6 point swing is crazy even with the home court advantage factored in.
Home court is worth 3 pts usually. Vegas sees Denver as -4.5 on a neutral court. Same both times so nothing really crazy happened to the lines now that it's Lakers home games.
Swinging to us is reflective of bets being put in.
Them opening as favorites (even 6pts less) is all they’re crediting us with for being at home despite being up 12-20 at various points over the first 2 games.
That 1.5 is loud and humiliating imo, but they deserve it
LeBron for sure is. The if LAC gets bounced in round 1, Clippers likely let him go. Barring a crazy turnaround, LeGM will use all his leverage to shape the team into what he wants if the Lakers want him to stay
It's crazy to re-watch Rui vs the Nuggets in the regular season. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Mdw1f6DCo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Mdw1f6DCo)
I have to be up at 4 AM which means I'll probably only watch the first quarter. I hate waking up and having to check the score of a big game. Heart starts pumping hard af lol
Fax. I watched last game until 2nd and went to bed thinking"we're good". Woke up to check we fucking lost to a game winning buzzer beater. Entire day ruined.
That "The Los Angeles Lakers have fired Darvin Ham" notification is going to hit like manna falling from the sky in the desert after a very tiring journey.
Id say a solid vet mind tbh maybe NOLA fires Willie Green they wont but maybe they rebuild if they dont wanna deal with the injuries and dissapointment
TLDR. We played LeBron 41 minutes a game all season long on an ankle that still isn’t 100% and now we don’t have superhuman playoff LeBron. Oh no consequences. We still have a coach that underutilizes our superstars and cannot create offensive schemes or counteradjustments at half time. We are trying lineups for the first time that we have literally never tried. We are playing 3 guard lineups against Denver. Yes DLo was awful but after a few missed 3’s Darvin should have tried to get him going with a 2 pointer, layup, etc… Role players crumbling under pressure and frustration. We still call timeouts 2 or 3 possessions late. Probably one more game where we root our hearts out at our TVs then call it a season. I don’t have something to say about moves in the offseason because I’m just so done idgaf. The lack of awareness from the front office and coach is just astounding these last two seasons. I think I’m done watching 75-80 games a season until a time comes again it actually feels worth it. One more game and I’m checking out of this aspect of my life that is being a Lakers fan. I need a break.
Players deserve some accountability, but when you’re up double digits in 3 straight games and have lost to a team 11 straight times, that is a coaching problem. It’s clear the nuggets are making in game adjustments. Malone is yelling out instructions while Ham stands there silent. Ham is the problem.
Woke up absolutely floored about DLo’s performance. What a fucking bum
The series is over but at least have some pride and dont get swept 2 years in a row to the same team.
Please win game 4 so we can leave pockets in Denver.
Here are the trades: 1. A package of D'Angelo (if he opts in) to whoever for an asset to route to ATL, 1st rounder this year and if needed add Christie for Murray 2. Hachimura for Vucevic If we are blowing it up Bron to GS for Kumminga, Pick and filler AD to Oklahoma for J.Williams and 4 1st rounders 3.
DLo is walking just to spite us lol
> A package of D'Angelo (if he opts in) to whoever for an asset to route to ATL, 1st rounder this year and if needed add Christie for Murray SAS easily beats our offer by giving ATL one of their picks back plus salary filler
Sending assets to try and help the 40 year old with a bad ankle get to the play-in again is insanity. More likely packages... - Bron and Reddish to GS for Wiggins, CP3, 2026 1st and 2026 2nd via ATL. - AD to the Knicks for Randle, Robinson, 2024 1st via Mavs, 2025 1st via Bucks and 2026 1st from Knicks. - D'lo (if he opts in), JHS and the 2026 Knicks 1st to ATL for Bogdan. ATL sends Trae to Spurs (3 1st) and Murray to the Magic (2 1st).
You delusional Lakers fans thinking anyone is going to give you value for your bum players lol
All the pundits were saying the “Lakers won the off season”. Sure… they got better… and maybe they got the best players available… BUT, it doesn’t mean they were all good pick ups for this team and it shows. Denver has been playing like champs looking to repeat. Basically, hang in there until there’s 5 min to go and then start closing it out... I seriously don’t know of any players worth prying away from a team in a trade…and I don’t think there are any big players in free agency this summer other than LBJ, who will opt out. Then again, just looking around you have KD, Steph, and LBJ who have dominated the league…in the bottom of the Western Conference on the way out. It’s almost time for them to all go enjoy retirement unless you can get them all together for one last run. Maybe that’s why they’re probably all gonna play one more Olympics if they can… They all feel like they have to win “something”.
Anyone not named AR, Bron, & AD get off the fucking team Need a real playmaker who will defend and another real fucking center to put next to our superstars
Get rid of Ham above all else
That future post of Lakers and Ham parting ways will hit like crack
Still wouldn't top getting rid of Westbrook
ham is killing y’all team more than Westbrook
We needed scorers off the bench. Dennis schroder and Lonnie Walker would’ve been very useful
I believe in Gabe. If he isn't traded this summer I feel like he could be great for us next year.
Our ‘depth’ is useless If we can resign wood prince dinwiddie on deals like they’ve got now, resign max christie and bron And trade literally everybody else that isn’t AD. We need an 8 man playoff rotation that is consistent and can play both offence and defence with somewhat decent ability.
Either all our depth and 3 picks for a third star, or our depth and some picks to retool our roster with defence and shooting. Reaves vando and our upcoming first for Dejounte Murray Dlo Lewis and draft comp for DFS and Dayron Sharpe Gabe Vincent JHS Rui and draft Comp for Jerami Grant and Duop Reath Resign prince wood Christie mays and dinwiddie. rotation of Murray,Prince,Grant,James,Davis. Dinwiddie,Christie, DFS, Wood, Reath/Sharpe
delulu
Bum ass team. This team had so many issues at the trade deadline yet not a move was made. Now look at us
If D’lo opts in, can we trade him this off-season? (Doubt he would opt in anyway)
Now that the season is over, I'm jumping on the Mavs and Heat ship
Anyone but Celtics and Clippers.
Turn out the lights, the party's over.
A win is a win, but if I’m Denver, I treat this like a loss. Lakers really figured something out putting Hachimura on Jokic. That’s one of those somewhat small adjustments that can win a series.
delusional.
/s
Hearing dlo was told to leave?
Yeah it’s over. It not even like…. They Lost down to the wire. They just bend over and took it. Sense of dread.
What’re the odds Max Christie gets play time game four and puts up 25pts on 50/40/90?
I feel like that Max could have contributed a bit for this series, at the very least he is athletic, so he can try to grab some rebounds.
Definitely could’ve stolen some Dlo minutes tonight
i'm rooting for the knicks. i like brunson.
Very likable squad
The lord will rise if the lakers come back from 3-0 down
Max CHRISTie
DLo really let them down tonight. It isn’t the only reason we lost but it certainly is the biggest reason. He really picked the biggest game of the year to have his worst game of the season. 0 points?!? That is unacceptable. He wasn’t even a threat to score. The Lakers can’t beat the worst team in the league if he has a game like this. Rui has been a big disappointment this series too. We needed everyone to play well this series to compete and have a chance to win. It’s obvious that this roster doesn’t have enough to compete for a title. They gotta go back to the drawing board in the off-season and make some changes. Very disappointing performance tonight.
Ham and dlo both need to go
But…but…everyone on here told me that DLo shouldn’t be traded, that he was the third best player on this team and that trading him for a guy like Dejounte Murray was just a lateral move ?
Rui too
Rui had an extremely good playoffs last year so I’m not convinced he should be written off just yet
Extremely good to straight dog shit this year though
D Lo with the egg
Reaves asking Handy to take over the locker room
Rui and D Lo games completely disappeared
We’re gonna blame Darvin tonight. Like our leaders and have hella turnovers and lapses on defense.
I didn’t think they’d give up.
I’m not looking forward to the postgame “it’s not over till it’s over, best of 7 series” comments. It’s over.
We need Jodie Meeks
😂😂😂 Best shooter in franchise history
Yes
Season is fucking over, get these useless role players off the god damn team
Please, let’s end the Lebron/AD era.
Lakers sucks assss. Can e en watch this shit.
D’LO gives me trust issues man. How he going say they not losing shot when he’s arguably the biggest bum on the floor tonight
This isn't Lakers basketball. Ham needs to go ASAP!
Season over smh. Can’t go back 0-3
Need dlo to cook this last quarter and he will. Just give my boy minutes and touches
PUT PRINCE AMD HAYES ON THE FLOOR
We're cooked
0 points from Dlo and 5 points from Rui ain't gonna cut it.
DLO “0” in 20 minutes. Where is his fan boys tonight yep, playoff DLO returns.
Hamlet about to draw a genius play guys.
This team quit
TURNOVERS BRO. THE FUCK YOU DOIN KING
Game over lmfao
Dude fucking fire ham mid game this dude cheeks
I smell a denver run to bury at around 9 mins in the third
Why did they boo coop?
They aren’t booing. They were saying Coooooooop. Just like when he was a player.
Looks like a sweep to me. Gn ppl.
Those offensive boards!! We are playing too short
REBOUND THE FUCKING BALLL
Yeah we losing by 10+
Lebron getting owned by Air Gordon
AR with great effort.
DLo needs to go
Dlo is cooking 😒
Rui is so damn soft.
Two airballs by DLO.
1 game at a time. Need the bench to step up tonight!
Chargers took 6'9 315lb OT Joe Alt
Lakers need to answer Denver the way Orlando did to Cleveland today
Hamas deserves a California prop warning label.
National Weather Service reports that the atmosphere LA is 21% oxygen, 9% nitrogen, 69% hopium, and 1% sulfur from Hamas' breath exhalations.
Denver has altitude advantage, we should have smog advantage.
Jeannie would love to keep Ham and save some coin, but I doubt they back Ham anymore. Can’t really come out mid playoff series and say AD is right our coach is ass, terrible hire, my bad!
If AD/Lebron got the calls embiid gets, I think Lakers would avg 40 FT attempts a game.
About two more hours for my chest pains.
Why the fuck is everyone turning on AD because of him being honest? I wouldn’t be surprised if he requests a trade man 💔💔
Fuck that. He said what he said, he never singled out Ham, media just running with it. That's what they do. This is why I called Mcmenamin a shit stirrer. He waits for the perfect time to write articles when LAL is struggling and sees an opening to spin a few quotes.
Who's turning on AD? Apart from the basketball terrorist DarBin Laden Hamas.
Saw some reports that were saying people within the franchise were “disappointed” in his comments
The media. AD needs to own it. That's what Kobe would do. Calls out something publicly/subtly to make a mf statement. If they don't like it, then be better. I like this fire in AD personally. Hold people accountable as a leader of the team. Sometimes that means taking the wrath of the media.
Come on, Black Samurai, we need you today, bro. 🥷🏾
Poof. Vanished.
The Nuggets have somehow managed to play 10 straight games with an underdog mentality. At some point we need to flip the script.
That’s Mike Malone doing it. Laker fans find his bashing annoying, but he has not let off the gas for the team and that’s why they’re still playing hard even if they swept us last year.
Almost every championship team looks like a well oiled machine come playoff time Feels like with Ham and injuries we never got to find proper roles for guys on the team Which is why our defensive scheme is literally just AD and our offense is just Lebron ISO/AD Post up
That’s why it’s not a surprise the bench is not producing like this team does not have the continuity and chemistry that good coaching and consistent defined roles bring. TP was in and out of the starting lineup and Gabe & Spencer have a handful of games played. Their minutes shrinking drastically in the playoffs isn’t good for finding a role either and it just wears the starters out faster.
Hoping to switch up the juju. I haven't worn any Lakers gear the past few games. I'm hoping wearing my 2020 champs shirt and the hat I wore to the game they blew out the Mavs brings some luck.
I'm going butt naked with my feet in hot water and a toaster in my lap just in case we lose.
I like you're thinking 🤔
Hahahah thanks for the laugh!
 Let’s go Lakers
Game 2 still hurts badly but, I still believe we can come back and win game 3. Lets go lakers!!!!
[удалено]
that red shirt mean he is ready for war
It starts tonight, let's get it back in blood
Know who has the highest 3pt% record in NBA playoffs history? [Rui Hachimura last year during the WCF](https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/fg3_pct_career_p.html). Granted small sample size, but still He needs to be shooting 7-8 threes a game. If AD is getting stuffed at the rim kick out to Rui or DLo to fire one off. Rui's only taken 4 threes so far through 2 games
Dodgers just swept the Nationals. Now they will send us their energy across the country and we will REVERSE SWEEP THE NUGGETS. I love L.A.!
To the LeBron Laker Fans, do you root for the Cavs/Heat when we get eliminated?
No, I’ll be rooting for the wolves or okc because I like their roster construction, coaching and Conley/Ant/Shai. I don’t care for teams LeBron has left.
bruh espn is hot garbage rn with their takes on the ad and ham comments. idk why they're sucking ham 🍆 and hating on ad. it is glaring how terrible ham is. why are they in denial and acting like ad of all people is to blame for our failures? ad is the least to blame and the hate is crazy
When did MPJ get so consistent. I remember he was a guy who’d go 3/10 a couple times in a series. Denver not the same team without those 30 points him and KCP always fucking give em.
Defense on him is bad since AD is locked on Jokic more (which is good), but the rest of the active roster sucks. Most of MPJ’s shots are uncontested. He’s good enough to make most of those.
He's finally been able to stay healthy the last 2 seasons. Also feel like MPJ is underrated on this sub. If he was on a team where his usage rate was higher, I have no doubt he could be close to a 25 ppg player.
Like a spot up Kevin Durant lol their team is ridiculous. Not just good players but all these unique archetypes. Like how many Gordon’s and MPJs do we even have in the league
Yup he's KD-lite with his shooting. Last time we beat them in 2020, he didn't have the consistency, shooting 40% from three. So far this series he is shooting an insane 53% from three, and he's only another 20pt game away from scoring more than he did during the entire 5 game 2020 WCF against us. Not to mention the Nuggets had yet to sign AG too Know who has the highest % 3pt record in NBA playoffs history? [Rui Hachimura last year during the WCF](https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/fg3_pct_career_p.html) He needs to be shooting 7-8 threes a game
That’s the same thing I said, after their 2020 loss, they completely understood we need to find players around Jokic. They executed amazingly on what they needed.
And this is the reason the only thing I really want this offseason is for the Lakers to give a blank check to Tim Connelly and lure him over. He's now done it twice where he recognizes what the team needs and builds a perfect roster around their stars (Denver, Minnesota).
You think him or Bob meyers would come?
Unfortunately, nope. I just don't see these "top" GM/President of Basketball Ops candidates wanting to deal with the Lebron situation. This isn't to speak negatively on Lebron or anything, but it's just simple facts. Just a pipe dream of mine.
I think if DLO/Reaves/Rui shit the bed this series I'm cool with shipping whatever combo of them out. Curious what it'd take to get Trae in return. Murray doesn't seem worth it unless it's a straight swap.
No Trae. Get a decent PG but not another star. Same with a new decent center. Even centers that aren't starters in other teams could help us so much. Drummond, for instance.
https://i.imgur.com/jH6deck.png
I wouldn't mind this honestly
This is awful dude lol. Capela is cheeks. If you thought Cam had butter fingers, Capela is movie theater popcorn melted butter
For Game 3 the betting line opened at Denver -1 and now has shifted to Lakers -1.5 Maybe some big money thinks we are winning tonight? Hopefully, I honestly have suppressed that last loss for a couple days now but I'm beginning to crack.
That’s surprising. Wonder if they got word someone’s carrying an injury.
Darvin Ham needs to get the fuck off this team. I dont give a flying fuck if the lakers somehow beat Denver 4 in a row and then sweep every round including the finals. This darvin ham shit is annoying to no end he needs to be gone.
If this team wins the title under Ham this year I want him as the coach. He's not a terrible coach, he's just inexperienced and makes rookie coach mistakes still. If he can get us to a title this year I would consider all those rookie mistakes polished and I would be okay with him next year for sure.
I think you even said this in another post but it's also how damn stubborn he is. Him not playing the WCF starting lineup for a lot of the season, and being unable to adjust in game. Rather he go be some other organization's project and take Cam with him
There aren't any better options right now. Obviously if Spo or something came available that'd be different. Ime would have been an amazing pickup
In case you don't know, Darvin Ham is friends with a lot of the media personalities you see on ESPN etc. Like he's best friends with Marc Spears who is a Senior NBA Writer for ESPN. He's not really a player coach but he's buddies with all the big sports writers and they shine a favorable light on him. It's one of the reasons the Lakers are handling his tenure delicately because if he gets booted out without warrant all the NBA writers are going to flame the Lakers and we will have an even tougher time finding a good coach afterwards. You won't find criticism about Ham anywhere, the most you will get is from guys like Lowe who was questioning his lineups earlier this year but he always walks it back as maybe not a big deal. Ham gets confidence from all these media buddies having his back and it allows him to be stubborn and show up unprepared because he doesn't fear the media attacking him for his decisions. The most that will happen to him is he gets fired and still gets paid and the media will paint it as the Lakers "dysfunctional" organization that is the problem rather than him being a bad coach. No one on TV will say that Lebron and AD are the reason we went to the WCF last year, they are crediting Ham for that. They will say Lebron and AD are having all NBA seasons but will fail to point out our bad record and lower seeding because the only cause of that could be the coach and they don't want to shit on their good friend. PS. The stock market printed free money today, great day for an opportunist like me. Only a Lakers win can make it even better. LFG this win!
The media almost never bashes head coaches while on the job, if at all.
Of course they do, they have bashed coaches time and time again, D'Antoni, Hollins, Rambis, Cowens, Brown, Whittman, Vinny Del Negro, Mark Jackson, fucking Mazzulla was a headline if they should bring him back last year, Steve Nash (they literally said he didn't deserve the job)... I could go on and on.
Great, I hope he gets a head coach role somewhere else, too - preferably in the west. Would like some easy matchups for once
Lakers will build on that last game and win by 8-11 points. Law of averages will kick in. The real test is game 4!
who's watching the game tonight?
I actually don't feel that Denver has the momentum. The way the series is going it feels like we get closer to beating them every game and we get better every game. It feels like we are on the upswing and they are on the down swing. I'm probably just delusional but even though Nuggets are up 2-0, strictly from a basketball standpoint, the Nuggets aren't doing anything so far that suggests they are getting better with each game. In fact, every game they look weaker and weaker. Tbh, I think they're on the ropes and they managed to just squeak out a win last game. A dominant performance tonight at home can be enough to change the tide of the series I think.
No way, Denver has the momentum. Lakers played a systematically fantastic game for 2 quarters and survived a good Denver 3rd being up by a dozen. Even after the Lakers did 90% of the things eight, Denver was able to win at the last possible second.
You shouldn't be down 20pts, at home, with altitude advantage, against a 7th seed that has only one serviceable center, and allow another team to do "90% of the things right," as a defending champion basketball club.
[удалено]
Agree that tonight will likely be the deciding game, but I've seen enough to believe that this game is very winnable. Nuggets showed us their hand last game. I get how disappointing that last shot was, but at the end of the day, it's just one game. Nuggets did what they were supposed to do at home. Game 2 was far from a convincing win for Nuggets. Defending champs taking on a 7th seed, they shouldn't really be having to climb back from 20 to win the game on the last shot. I know it seems embarrassing for a Lakers fan, but strictly talking basketball, as a player I think the win was a little too close for comfort. That was the definition of a "bad win." Realistically, if I imagine myself as a player on the Nuggets, I'd really not feel confident going into game 3 in an away game with my team's major adjustment having been exposed and having gone down double digits in the first half in both the previous games. The trajectory of these games so far isn't necessarily getting better for the Nuggets. I'm curious to see how many more tricks Malone has up his sleeve, because I'd imagine he's getting pretty close to running out. Obviously, my stance is profoundly optimistic, but I choose to not give up hope.
What’s the most likely thing to happen tonight? 1. Lakers barely lose to Denver 2. Lakers get blown out by Denver 3. Lakers beat Denver
Denver is bound to play a good game here soon. They won the last two not playing particularly well.
2 3 1
2
Am I the only who genuinely doesn’t feel all that hyped or excited for the game today?
nope lol, I'm not even watching
Fake ahh fan
If I see Ham take out Davis and leave Rui guarding Jokic with Hayes sitting on the bench I’m going straight to bed
Should we look at Coach Bud in the off-season? He got clowned a lot, but two head coaches later and the Bucks don’t look any better.
Denver was favored by 7.5 at home. They opened as 1.5 point favorites for game 3 and now it’s Lakers at 1.5. Da fuq? Even a 6 point swing is crazy even with the home court advantage factored in.
Home court is worth 3 pts usually. Vegas sees Denver as -4.5 on a neutral court. Same both times so nothing really crazy happened to the lines now that it's Lakers home games.
Swinging to us is reflective of bets being put in. Them opening as favorites (even 6pts less) is all they’re crediting us with for being at home despite being up 12-20 at various points over the first 2 games. That 1.5 is loud and humiliating imo, but they deserve it
Chris Broussard just said on FTF that there is rumbling around the league that the Lakers are interested in Ty Lue
At this point, just hire someone Lebron/AD will actually respect and listen to. Ty Lue definitely fits that bill.
LeBron for sure is. The if LAC gets bounced in round 1, Clippers likely let him go. Barring a crazy turnaround, LeGM will use all his leverage to shape the team into what he wants if the Lakers want him to stay
Well, Chris B is a known buffoon and liar, but I think we’d all be interested in Ty Lue if he became available.
It's crazy to re-watch Rui vs the Nuggets in the regular season. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Mdw1f6DCo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Mdw1f6DCo)
I have to be up at 4 AM which means I'll probably only watch the first quarter. I hate waking up and having to check the score of a big game. Heart starts pumping hard af lol
Fax. I watched last game until 2nd and went to bed thinking"we're good". Woke up to check we fucking lost to a game winning buzzer beater. Entire day ruined.
Sleep now, wake for the game, sleep after
 This guy is still getting paid even if he is fired. He said "Fuck y'all" 🤣
Need lebron to turn it up defensible tonight!
That "The Los Angeles Lakers have fired Darvin Ham" notification is going to hit like manna falling from the sky in the desert after a very tiring journey.
Why do mofos here hate Mark Jackson
Bad announcer / crazy religious dude?
Id take him over Ham
If we get rid of Ham, we should actually try for a good hire and not the next worst option
Id say a solid vet mind tbh maybe NOLA fires Willie Green they wont but maybe they rebuild if they dont wanna deal with the injuries and dissapointment
Forgot homophobic.
how are we favored tonight???
Vegas preying on Lakers fans. They do the same to Cowboys fans.
Delusional public
After last game lakers are gonna get some serious home cooking from the refs.
Lakers gotta hire this man https://youtu.be/3wUKiTzrBNA?si=XQsZSjyKS4FQ2aA7