Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers
Sports:Basketball
Media Day: LeBron James Discusses his NBA Future, says Anthony Davis is Lakers' Franchise Face.
2023-10-03
The Lakers kicked off training camp with Media Day on Monday, and man alive, there was plenty of interesting stuff on the agenda. (What there wasn't? Drama! Tension! Controversy! It was ahistorical for a Lakers Media Day, to be honest.)
So without all the low-hanging, headline grabbing stuff available, the focus was on what's in front of a team that rightly has extremely high expectations following a run to the Western Conference Finals. One big thing everyone was happy about? Continuity. All the returning players, from LeBron James on down, spoke glowingly about what it means for this team to be entering training camp starting somewhere ahead of scratch. They know each other. They know the system. They have to integrate players into it, but the guys who are new are also role players, and in the case of Taurean Prince and Gabe Vincent, are extremely well respected pros. Christian Wood? Well, he's got some stuff to prove, but he's the only player in the rotation with any sort of question mark.
Guys are incredibly excited that the band is back together.
As for LeBron, he's back after floating the idea of retirement following the end of last season. What brought him back? And how much longer is he planning on playing? While James definitely didn't say this would be his final season, he also definitely said he couldn't look past this year. What goes into the calculus around how long he'll play? What does Bronny James and a good health report have to do with any of it?
Anthony Davis said he'd like to play in all 82 games this year, and is prepping with a mindset of making it happen. Obviously he's not going to play that many games, but he's obviously aware of the perception surrounding him, and hopes to push back through attendance. Does he see himself as the face of the franchise? Is this his team? LeBron says it's his, but what does Davis think? Why does each guy answer that question the way that he does?
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: It's Media Day! The Lakers are a drama free operation, and it showed on Monday.
SEGMENT 2: LeBron James, his present and future.
SEGMENT 3: Anthony Davis. Is this his team?
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