August 26, 2025 • 42 mins
We’re officially 35 days away from Lakers Media Day, and the storylines are starting to heat up. This week on Late Night Lake Show:
🟣 Jovan Buha reports the Lakers are unlikely to extend Rui Hachimura before training camp — is it a smart cap move or a misread of his value?
🟡 Luka Dončić is cleared and dominating for Slovenia in EuroBasket prep — how does international play impact his first season in purple and gold?
🏆 The Big3 Championship game brought out legends and energy — is Ice Cube’s league carving a real lane?
👑 And we ask the question everyone’s debating: Who’s the face of the WNBA right now?Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, or A’ja Wilson?
🎙️ Hosted by Ricky & Kwame | Subscribe, rate, and drop your take on who you think runs the W.
All things 19 Media Group:
Twitter: @19MGroup
Instagram: 19mediagroup
https://www.19MediaGroup.com
Discover our favorite podcast gear and support the show—shop our studio must-haves on our Amazon Affiliate page! https://www.amazon.com/shop/19mediagroup
Want to join the conversation or invite us to your platform? Connect with us and share your vision (budget-friendly collaborations welcome)! https://bit.ly/19Guest
🟣 Jovan Buha reports the Lakers are unlikely to extend Rui Hachimura before training camp — is it a smart cap move or a misread of his value?
🟡 Luka Dončić is cleared and dominating for Slovenia in EuroBasket prep — how does international play impact his first season in purple and gold?
🏆 The Big3 Championship game brought out legends and energy — is Ice Cube’s league carving a real lane?
👑 And we ask the question everyone’s debating: Who’s the face of the WNBA right now?Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Paige Bueckers, or A’ja Wilson?
🎙️ Hosted by Ricky & Kwame | Subscribe, rate, and drop your take on who you think runs the W.
All things 19 Media Group:
Twitter: @19MGroup
Instagram: 19mediagroup
https://www.19MediaGroup.com
Discover our favorite podcast gear and support the show—shop our studio must-haves on our Amazon Affiliate page! https://www.amazon.com/shop/19mediagroup
Want to join the conversation or invite us to your platform? Connect with us and share your vision (budget-friendly collaborations welcome)! https://bit.ly/19Guest
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what's going on? Y'all? Welcome to a new episode
of the Late Now Lakes Show podcasts powered by nineteen
Media Group. It is your host to Ricky and Kwame.
We are officially thirty five days away from Lakers Media
Day and things are starting to come into focus. There
are reports that Ruyjachimoor's future is a little up in
the air with the unlikely extension before training camp. We'll
(00:21):
talk about what that means for the Lakers twenty twenty
six cap space. Luka Doncic is clear to return to
Slovenium basketball and his euro Basket run. We'll dive into
what that means for Luca's rehabilitation and his hashtag revenge
tour for the rest of the league this season. Plus,
with the WNBA and the Big Three taking center stage
(00:42):
this summer, we'll tapping into what's going on besides just
our Lakers World Big Three Championship vibes was hilarious. I
don't know you guys called it, but your social media
got your attention. And more importantly, the growing debate that
everybody wants to know Andrew Reese is the cover of
two K twenty six page buckets is absolutely going off
as a rookie. Caitlin Clark still is the media darling
(01:05):
and social Media's lord and savior, and Asia Wilson is
you know, the go So we'll get into who's the
face of the w on this episode, leanne A Lake Shaw.
Let's get into it all right, kwam the starting us off. Man,
I'm actually pretty surprised you haven't called me out. So
I'll call myself out about just my lack of participation
on our Saturday morning basketball run. So I am giving
(01:27):
you the runway to to speak your peace. I've I've
told you my reasoning every time, but you know the
reality is, I'm not there, man, I'm just I'm just
not there. I gotta I gotta hold that, you know, don't.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Talk good man. I get it. You're you're busy, you
got things, you got priorities, but can't claim to be
a hooper if you know who. Unfortunately, So it's just
my two cents. But I'm sure you'll get out. You'll
get back out there eventually.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I'll be out there.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Man.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
You know the coach coach Dad is in full effect,
which is dad dog, It's it's looking at the run.
Wait man, And I'm realizing I'm just getting on the
tarmac to take off. I met I met a guy
at my son's friend's birthday party, and he is he
was the grandfather of the kid of the birthday boy.
(02:12):
And I got to talking to him. You know, I
saw him. You know, every old head that used to
hoop has a look, right. So he's got his Nike
shirt on, some Nike Tech sweats on, and then he's
just walking around in slots with the basketball socks. I'm like, okay,
you still living in there like you in a gym.
So I struck up a conversation with him. Bro. He
was one of the leading founders of mac Irving Fire, which,
(02:36):
if you don't know, is one of the premieer AAU
teams in the Chicago, Illinois midd West l It's a
national brand. He I just got to talk to him
and he started telling me about, you know, everything that
he's been doing. And the long story short, he's got
a son that's going to be a freshman over at
Oh god, I've already forgot what that school was. I
(02:57):
remember it later over in the they're a big tents
with throw over on the east side. But regardless, man,
he's he's a pretty interesting guy. We'll have to get
him on the show. He you know, he knows a
lot about his hoops.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Interesting. Maybe he can give you a pointer or two.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Yeah, we went directly into you have a son that's
about to play college basketball, tell me everything you did.
And then he was like, well, I was literally a
coach since third grade. Moved him to the city. He
played at Kenwood, and he played in all the leagues,
played against Cooper Flag. I'm like, oh, well, I really
don't have time to make that my life, so I
(03:32):
guess I'll just be paying for that access. So we'll see. Man.
Hopefully we can get him on the show and chop
it out with him. Real interesting guy. Absolutely with any event, Quiman,
let's get into news and notes around the league. All right, Up, first,
your favorite three point shooting convict, Malik Beasley. He got
the name off of him. Man, he got the federal
(03:55):
rallys off his case. He is no longer under federal
investigation for a game gambling ring scandal. I'm sure everybody,
so I'm a league. Beezy looked pretty carefree during this
entire investigation. If he checked his Instagram, check to social media,
he was real, live, laugh love. Bro. I think we
all kind of assumed that he was cooked with all
his previous tweets talk about the three point record and
(04:17):
calling out Ant. But he's free, so shout out to him.
Reaction to a Malik Beasley beating the allegations.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Bro. Honestly, I gotta say, I'm surprised. I didn't think
he was gonna get off. I feel like when the
FEDS have a case built against you, you're you're in trouble, man, Like,
the odds of you getting off Scott free are usually
slimmed to none. I'm gonna assume he was just a
very minor accessory to whatever the larger scandal was or
whatever it may be. But clearly he is not, you know,
a liable or chargeable person in his court dealings. He's off,
(04:49):
and now he will be looking to secure his next
spot on his next NBA roster, wherever that may be. Again,
I think this opens up a broader conversation of gambling
in sports and how we I saw with Johntay Porter,
we saw Gilbert Areena's get arrested. He said, I'm snitching
on everybody, you know. Like, I feel like this is
continuing to become a thing. And again even go back
(05:10):
when you talk about like Tim Donahue and the whole
or donneghe was his name, I don't remember whatever, you know,
the Refic scandal that I mean, I watched the documentary
like a couple of years back, and it was that
was at the very beginning of deep sports gambling and
swaying odds and swaying outcomes and all these things. And
(05:32):
I'll be honest, I think it's only going to continue
to get worse now that sports books are now official
sponsors of leagues, and to be honest, controlled outcomes means
more money, more profit for these businesses. So I could
see a world where again is the NBA it self
having a hand in some of these odds that sway
and move a lot of money. There's a lot of
money in sports gambling, and like I said, it's only
(05:54):
going to continue to grow and multiplies, you know, to
be honest, good for Beasley for getting off. Blessings of
him and his next venture wherever that may be. But
I think this is just a broader conversation. So I'm
even curious your thoughts, Rick, Like, what do you think
about sports gambling as it Conte used to expand into
sports and how players, coaches. EIGs now can make quite
(06:16):
a profit off of skewing outcomes, skewing stats, all these
different variables that are now essentially have money behind them.
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, I knew we were in a new era as
far as sports and sports consumption when you saw ESPN
sorow they had in the ring and say, you know what,
we like this betting stuff too. Here's our Mickey Mouse
sports book and no, but now here we are Disney
has a piece of sports gambling. I can't sit here
and say I'm surprised by the direction that we went.
(06:47):
I think that the government just found a way to
feel comfortable about getting the ends on sports gambling because
it's something that has always been around, right, Like even
I remember in high school some of the kids they
talk about they had a book You're you're do it
with a bookie man. But it's it's interesting that we're
now at a place where not only are we past
(07:10):
the bookie stage, the bookies on your app right, the
bookies connected to your bank account where you don't even
need to physically hand over money. All of this stuff
is digitized, including the odds. What you get the odds
at one second is going to change the next second.
I know that's probably you know how it's always been
with gambling, But you're able to manipulate it if you're
(07:30):
the controller so easily, and the public is just, you know,
we're just happy to be able to hopefully win fifty
two one hundred dollars right on a parlay that your
buddy told you about in the discord chat. I think
it's just we're in a place now where the government's
getting their ends, so they're not as concerned about how
(07:51):
the rest is getting played out. So could that lead
to these books finding ways to make more sure. Yeah,
they're not doing their jobs if they're not right, But
how far does that trickle down? Does it trickle down
all the way to the organization? Does it trickle down
to the league? Does it trickle down to the athlete
jagging threes and coming out two minutes into a game
(08:12):
because his parlay that he told his buddies to bet
on him was all the unders. Sounds like it's a
problem at that level, but I think we're kind of
ignoring the bigger picture where it's like, who says that
this isn't already happening on a much much bigger operational scale.
So this is America. You know, I ain't gonna lie
and act like I ain't got a couple of them
(08:33):
things on, locked in on prize picks and DraftKings and
fan Duel and MGM and the ESPN Bad and all
of them. Right, they're like dispensaries. They're they're everywhere now.
So you take the dance with the devil man and
this is where we're at. So not surprised, but just
be careful, folks, don't don't ruin your life on Malik
Beasley over unders.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Honestly, I think that was a beautiful analogy. It's like
they're like dispensaries, because you're right, there's a sports book everywhere.
You ran through it, like several just off the top
of your head, and that's not even covering all of them.
And I think you made another really good point is
that gambling has become so accessible to your average person.
Before you had to go into casino, you had to
know a bookie whatever. If you want to start placing
(09:14):
any type of bet, now it's simply at your fingertips,
upload your ID. Within twenty minutes, you'll have access, so
you could bet your life savings if you want to.
So for real, not only is it a societal thing,
it's also like I said, it's really shifting the landscape
of sports. So how do you keep it? How do
you know that there's integrity in it? I mean, there's
always been conspiracy theories, whether it's the draft, whether it's
(09:37):
you know, who's the champion, whether MVPs, all these things,
and now you could put money behind all these factors.
It could get scary when you really think of like
doomsday scenarios. But like you said, this is America, capitalist
is king, and however the money flows, it will continue
to flow. So this is just another avenue to make
a bunch very very quickly. And like I said, I
(09:58):
think a lot of athletes play. To be honest, there's
probably so much going on we don't even know about.
And I don't need no black vans rolling up to
my crib, but I'm sure there's probably operations that are,
like I said, moving billions around, and we have no idea.
That's just the nature of it. And it's hard to
be able to know judge in tenth of players versus not.
But you know. That's where it gets even more tricky.
So I expect this to continue to be a running
(10:19):
dialogue for the next several years. And I don't even
know if there's any if there's any way to stop
it at this point, can you put a lid on it?
I don't think you know.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Pandora's box is open. Bro, Yeah we'll be You'll be
paying in in credits for I don't know. Man, your
hourly wage can just be auto depositive into a sportsbook
probably soon. So you never know.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
That's fair, that's fair?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Well real quick? Do you think Beasley ends up back
with the Pistons. They were working on a deal, right
and yeah, you know that fell through. That was a
lot of money and I got taken off the table.
Is Beasley in his right to spend the block and
be like, hey, I's free, Well where to check you at?
You know?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
So? I think the if I've the Pistons, I would
probably bring him back. He had a really good year
for them last year. I think they had really great
synergy with Kay Cunningham. I mean they made the playoffs.
I think there's only room for growth there. I mean
he was offered what a three year forty two million
dollar contract, I believe. So it's good money for Bes,
who was starting to look like a journeyman just scooping
up minimum contracts. But he had a like I said,
(11:20):
had a breakout year. I guess kind of hard to
say a breakout year for twenty eight year old. But again,
quote unquote breakout year did really really well, earned himself
a nice little paycheck, and you know, hopefully he's able
to cash in. But again, you know, like I said,
the scandals are running deep. We just saw Terry rose
Year get investigated. He got off on that one, but
it's going to be continued to be a thing.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Manager his translator. That was the best swept under the
rug thing I've ever seen in my life. That thing
ran so deep. The government's got involved. Hey, hey, we're
done here, we're done. He'll take the fall. Then he'll
probably get out or escape or something happens, and then
this story's over.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, So I mean it'll be interesting for Beasley though,
But again, he finished second and sixth Man of the
Year voting last season, averaged sixteen points off the bench,
played an all eighty two games. I would actually really
like to see him go back to the Pistons, because
I actually like the Pistons outlook in the east. Next
year and even for the foreseeable future. I think Kate
is a true force of nature down there. I think
(12:19):
he's one of the stars of the future. So I'd
like to see him back. But you know, good for
him gambling things aside, and now he can continue his
NBA career.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Moving right along, Big Qualm. I know, I know you
was locked in. You was in your seat focus Popcorn,
your favorite dope beverage to the Big Three Championship game
at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore. I know you almost
went too. I had to talk you out of the
flights to Baltimore. Bro I got, oh, my boys going
to the University of Maryland. There we go. You see
(12:49):
our life kind of paints the picture for me. Yeah,
he's going to be a turf coming in so yeah,
shout out, shout out to. I probably should have had
his name up anyway, but in any event, of the
trilogy defeated the Dam's fifty one forty seven to win
their fourth Big Three title, led by and BP Isaiah
Brisco twenty points eight rebounds. That is also the team,
(13:10):
as you know of one of your favorite crazy guys
in the world, Michael Beasley, Swaggy Pe. Who else do
we have? Your boy? Your boy hit the game winner?
Mario Chalmers, Mario Chalmers. It's a nice little team of
guys that were really, really, really cold in college. But
kwame were you locked into ice Cube's production of the
(13:31):
Big Three Championship game? Brother?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Oh No, I can't say I was no, And if
I did, I'd be lying to you. I haven't watched
any of the Big Three their entire season or whatever
they run in the summer. But what is funny is
I have seen a lot of highlights, a lot of clips,
you know what the Big Three feels like. And I'm
gonna make a I'm gonna make a broad statement here,
and you know, I hope nobody takes it the wrong way.
Ice Cube, Please, don't, you know, send no people after me.
(13:54):
This is just my opinion that I'm voicing. I'll be honest.
The storylines and the drama is more impactful than the
hoops that are happening on the court. You know, the
the rivalries, the smack talk, the one on one potential
mid game, Like, I think that's more of what it
is than like quality hoops and like, oh wow, this
(14:14):
team was just that's the true definition of the basketball team. Like, nah,
it doesn't really give me that feeling. And again what
I hear is, never look at this crazy performance by
a player. It's so and so was talking back to
so and so after you hit a game winner on
like it's the drama. And to be honest, that's not bad.
Drama sells man, So ice Cube you you might have
cracked the formula. You got a lot of hoopers who
(14:35):
can hoop a couple of hot heads, you know, you
see what I'm saying, like anybody's in this joint, but
you know, you got some people who are teetering the
line of you know, sane and insanity. So it adds.
The drama, adds to the effects. So honestly, as like
almost like a reality TV show production. I gotta give
the Big Three it's props because you do hear a
lot of storylines that surrounded the dramas interesting to talk about.
(14:58):
But I don't really care for the bat basketball. I'm
just not a three on three guy. That's just me.
So Stevens, you know this isn't for me, But I mean,
what did you think of it. Did you were you
tuned in? I know you were locked in. You had
the kids, one on each leg.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
He was tuned in, right, Yeah. I mean, I don't
know if this is an indictment at my parentsing so far,
but Grayson's way more entertained by the Savannah Bananas baseball
than Big three basketball. And I don't necessarily blame him,
but you know, shout out to all the players that
I'm looking at here for the first time and realizing
(15:33):
that they played Big three basketball. Mario Chalmers with the
game winner, what do you say? This is what I
do at every level? He kind of got a good point,
you know.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
He said he's won at every level he's ever played basketball,
youth league, high school, college, NBA, euro League. I think
he played in the Greek League, and then now the
Big Three. He says, I am a winner, I am
a champion. To be honest, he's not wrong. So you
got to give credit where credits due. I wasn't in tune.
But again, it's not for me. Big threees is not
(16:03):
for me. I'm not saying it's not for y'all. It's
not for other people. It shouldn't be for other people.
I actually think the product is dope. Again, I think
when it comes to like an entertainment aspect, the job
of being entertainment. But I'm more of a you know,
traditional list when it comes to five on five hoops.
So that's what I prefer to watch. But that's just me.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
That's fair, that's fair. I want to say this for
the kids anyway, but.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
The way they be talking as not for the kids, right,
It's yeah, that's for the dude who just shows up
to the half court every every day at the park,
just waiting for anybody.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
To step on the shop all day. Yeah, you know,
you know the butt is right the guy You're not
really sure you know what they do for a living,
but they always got to let you know. They they
hot takes every time you see them. Yeah, shout out
to those guys. Look like it was packed too.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah. Again, I think the product does really well. They're
making money. It's the league is functioning the way I
think it should go. But again, to be it's more
about the storylines, the rivalries. It's not all about the basketball.
There's more underlying storylines. I would like it to. I
would liken it to like w w WEE. That's what
I would like in the team in terms of like
(17:10):
the production of basketball, yes, but with the basketball.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
To tie this into a little Laker topic, which one
of the current Lakers do you think is most likeliest
to play in the Big Three once their career is
over current? Huh?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Gave Vincent. He seems like a Big three baller. It's
usually the guards that were like, probably had more skill
than they were able to show because of the role
that you have to play in the NBA, usually go
to the Big three and kind of ball out. I
could see. I could see gave Vincent being a three year.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I like that. I don't think there are a lot
of answers really, because Big three you kind of have
to have that personality too. You know. As much as
we love our exciting whites, I don't know how many
white guys are in the Big three. And I could
be wrong. I know Scalabrini played like the first year
or something, then he turned into a coach. But definitely
none of our big guys. Definitely not Hayden. You know what,
who's a sleeper one that I think he's a newly
(18:03):
acquired Laker. I could see Marcus Smart getting in there
with the Big Three. When it's all said and done,
I feel like he can, you know, talk his trash
with the best of them. He's already got that you know,
pit bull mentality. So he gonna you know, he gonna
hold his own. So and maybe Jackson Hayes. Jackson Hayes
just you know, just seems like a guy that will
you know, catch some lobs in Big Three and yell.
(18:24):
He does all the theatrical parts really well too of
a Big Three player.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
So yeah, might see him do step backs.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
All right, Moving on, I do not need that image
in my head the day was he practicing threes. We
just recently saw Jackson during the summer, you know, summer highlights.
I'm glad we're all past that era of folks getting
excited about players training during the summer doing moves that
(18:52):
you know are never gonna happen. Mitchell Robinson I think
was the last one. There was like, all right, never
again take any stock into summer high Like this man
is tween tweening step back threes, gets onto the court
and is a lot of threat and shotblocker, and that's it.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Ben Simmons had me goofed for like four straight summers.
He had me in a headlock.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Oh god, I didn't know. I didn't know you were
a believer, bro.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Oh. Ben Simmons was the first heir to the Lebron
James thrown for me. I was team Ben. I got
Ben Simmons. Suresey's in the closet, they're.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Buried, but I got him.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Man. I was a Ben Simmons enthusiast brother. Yeah, and
then he decided his back hurt and his mental shrink
or whatever happened. You know, I don't want to take
mental health as a joke, because I get it. It
can really knock you off the cliff. But man, he
went to be honest, his best season was literally like
his rookie season, and that he proceeded to regress. So yeah,
(19:48):
and then Luca came along, and then it was like
we over here. So yeah, he was supposed to be
the first Brown disciple. He came in a better passer, bigger,
not as athletic, but you know, I felt like he
had a better game feel. Obviously wasn't quite the score
Bron was. I was a Ben Simmons enthusiast bro telling
me I've been looking for my next Brown, but we
got here.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Laklan got traded to the Lakers. Look at God, Look
at God, Late Night Lake Show. The last topic for
are around the Horn, which is turned into probably half
the show length. But it's all good. We're wrapping up
the dog days of summer, get us into a media
day in training camp, and then we're off and running
every week for y'all. I appreciate y'all walking into the
Late Night Lake Show with Ricky and Akwame. Finally. Uh,
(20:31):
you know, the NBA basketball has been doing their thing.
I would say probably the past you know, three four
or five seasons, but really making an effort of getting
onto the center stage and capturing who fans attention during
this time obviously with the NBA during their summer break,
this is the time where the w NBA shines. Excuse
me that w is able to shine along with you know,
(20:54):
the Big Three at a very lower extent. Right. So
games have been great, man, there was a lot of
talent in the league. You know, we are seeing another
rising rookie just absolutely just torched the old guard in
uh in page Buker's page buckets. Excuse me, Uh, she's
going crazy, man, dropping forty four against the sparks on
(21:17):
Kwame's favorite player's head. Well, first of all, did you
want to comment anything about your Yeah, your your booskie
getting absolutely barbecued by Page.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Now, every hooper's gotten got by another hooper. It just happens.
It's the natural progression of the sport. Uh. But Page
is one, So I'm not even mad at it. I've
liked Page's game for a while. Now there you go,
and she's coming to the w and she's she's making
her impact. So I gotta give it. I gotta give
credit where credits due. But you know, Kelsey Plumb, that's
that's that's my that's my dog. I'm a plumb dog millionaire.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
How tall is she, Kelsey Plump, Kelsey Plumb?
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I think five nine?
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Okay, then how tall is Page? Because she's six foot yeah,
I believe she's six foot yeah. Yeah, No, So she
looks great. I mean, you know this is not a
surprise if you've you know, obviously been a disciple of
the Church of Kobe. Page is from the Mamba Academy,
coming up playing on his AAU teams. Kobe you know,
(22:15):
before he passed, had already signed off on her, stamped
her as being one of the next ones to take
over and just really exudes that mamba mentality. And I
believe that she had an interview shortly after he passed
and she was able to talk about just how much
she meant to him and like how that was actual
family and how close they were. So, you know, it's
(22:37):
really cool to see now today her doing what she
was destined to do and destined to be, and that
to be an absolute bucket getter. But I gotta ask,
you got Paige yet. Angel Reese has the cover of
two K twenty six. I know, I know angels up
there as somebody that you know, Nick, a little contraver Marchel,
(23:00):
but cover athlete. Man, They're not doing it just forits
and giggles. She has coined the phrase me bounds, which
I think is genius. She flipped that on its head
about folks thinking that she's just an offensive rebound merchant.
And she's by all intensive purposes, got one of the
hottest shoes out right now with her pumas. She's definitely
(23:21):
in consideration Kayln Clark, who has been banged up this year. Right, obviously,
this has not been a season as strong or as
as dynamic as her rookie year. But Kaylen, you know
it's still a very, very very talented person and she's
already captured a portion of the w and America I
for being really honest. That will always keep her at
(23:42):
the top of the total pool and bro then we
didn't even get to the actual best player, reigning MVP,
Asia Wilson, who you know?
Speaker 2 (23:51):
To me?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
You know, respect to Cheryl Swoops, respect to my more
respect to Diana Tarassi, But like in respect Delisa Wesley,
that childhood go, the childhood go right? Candace Parker, Yeah,
Candace right, the childhood Boskie right? Again, the shockwaves throughout
the world when when everybody found out that she was
(24:12):
on the other team. But that's a different day. Long story,
short man, there's a lot of different names that are
pulling in a lot of eyes to the sport. My
question to you, Kwame for your dollar, who are you
going to see out of those big four?
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Man? That's tough. I can only choose one, to be honest,
I think for me personally, I gotta go Asia Wilson.
I've been a fan of her for a minute. Actually
started watching the WNBA in the twenty one twenty two
season that was the year the Aces captured their first
championship then went back to back. Couldn't do the three
p but it is what it is, and I really
like her game. Man. You know, she's to me, she's
(24:49):
one of the best offensive players. She's an incredible defensive player.
I mean, she's one defensive players of the year. She
has a really solid game. Like again, she's very good
at about everything. You know what I'm saying. I'm a fan.
I to me, she's the best player that I've seen
with my eyes. And again, I haven't watched a ton
of the w NBA, so I will never complain that
(25:12):
somebody says it's like you said, Diana Tarassi, Lisa Leslie,
Chryl Swoops, Maya Moore. I did get to see a
bit of Maya Moore because when she was popping, she
was popping. She was cold out there on the court.
So I can't even hate on Maya Moore. Just the
career cut too short, which is a shame. But these
young girls got it though. Man, I can't even lie
to you. All three the women that you named injuries,
(25:33):
Paige Beckers and Caitlin Clark all have game and you
know they appeal to some different groups as well. So
there's there's there's some there's a bit there.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
And that's good for the game. Man. I everybody's supposed
to cheer for in support and love the same person.
In fact, I think the sport grows when they have
that polarizing figures are in different corners of the country. Man,
I think it's good.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I think it's all a great I agree. I mean,
what brought the NBA back into prominence Bird.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Magic versus magic.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Yep, you know, so I have no issue with this. Again,
let's keep it respectful and again, plenty of times, I
know people can get a little crazy when it comes
to you know, racial conversations just then being women conversations, Like,
let's let's turn all that down, focus on the hoops
what we're seeing. Obviously, there's still different types of hoopers. Obviously,
Caitlin was brought in to basically be the hub, the engine,
(26:22):
everything for a team, and you know, Angel Reese was
drafted to a team that's kind of lacking a bit
of an identity and they're still working through that page.
Becker is obviously a tough team that she's trying to
carry as well. Rique Goumbawally's had a terrible season this year,
so it hasn't really gotten a ton of help in
that aspect. But you know that's just the delay of
the land currently. But I think all four of these
(26:43):
women are fantastic basketball players. Angel Reese, again, she's used
marketing to her to her advantage. You know, we saw
the Reese's Pieces thing that she dropped out being a
capitalized on that last name. People are making fun of
her saying she gets her own rebound. She said, we're
gonna coin the phrase me bounds and look she going.
Now she's marketing herself super super well. But again, let
(27:05):
not I don't want to say that she's not performing
on the court as well, because she is Paige Beckers.
I think she's had a fantastic rookie season. It may
not have spelt as dynamic as Kaitlyn Clark because you know,
she's not pulling from half court every single play, but
she does have a very sound game. She's a very
intelligent player. I've always enjoyed her game, even dating back
to when she was in Yukon. So I think Page
(27:27):
is going to be a really good players. This continues,
wait till they get some pieces around her. She thrown
off all the playmaking chops that she has, but she
is a playmaker extraordinaire on top of being a top
level bucket getter. Heykaitlyn Clark, we already saw what she
could do last year again, smashing records left and right.
Triple double girl, you know, could score from anywhere. The
WNBA has a really really bright future, and that's just
(27:50):
the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot of other
women who are really really talented in this league, and
the more they could show off their game, their visibility,
whatever it may be, I think they have a really
good opportunity to break out as a sports league, and
I think we're seeing the genesis here. But the league
itself has a responsibility to market these players properly and
to keep the game the game and not entertain the
other nonsense. So it's a big responsibility. But I think
(28:11):
it's really cool to see where the WNBA was, let's say,
a decade ago, to where it's going now. And there's
a lot of exciting players. You know, we got Juju
coming in in a couple of years, which is also
going to be really really great. I think the w
is going to be in really good hands. These young
girls can hoop man, and I get it, you're not
seeing high flying dunks and everything, but hey, every year
(28:34):
these girls, their game is looking a little more advanced
every single year. So again, I think we're going to
see a point where the game is going to mimic
the men's game very closely. Obviously not the athleticism portion,
but you're going to see the skills start to really
start to like parallel more and more as we've seen
these last couple of years. But to answer your question, ultimately,
(28:55):
if I got to drop a dollar, I'm going to
see Asia Wilson. I think she's just an incredible, incredible player,
obviously super established at a statue at the university, the
University of South Carolina. She had a statue when she
was like, what like twenty two years old. Who's doing
that now? That is legendary personifides I gotta give I
got to my half to Asia. What are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, I'm going with Asia and we'll leave it in.
Asia is something.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
They well call down for we get bam out here.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
I bet, I bet, hey, I'm sending under you. I'm
saying to your kwame said it, I'm just putting scripts together.
Shout out Asia Wilson transitioning over into our big talking.
This will be a little extra dieter on a little
bit of a time crunch today. But as we previously
pointed out earlier, Luka Donc is back. He is clear
(29:46):
to play with his Slovenian national team. He was able to,
you know, start warming up and getting through practice id.
So it just took a little time off right to
take care of that little minor knee scared during the
warm ups for Slovenia's previous game. But Luca looks good.
He looks like he'll be a okay and even more importantly,
(30:07):
he'll be a okay when training camp pulls up on
us here. In just over a month. We did see
Luca with a nice passionate leadership moment, delivering a locker
room speech during the team after a team's blowout loss.
And yeah, there's things that we just love to see
as we get to learn more about the man the leader.
(30:28):
We saw what the player Luca was before the Lakers
and as he started to get into the shape with
the Lakers. So I'm excited to just continue to lean
in and learn more about the guy. But like you know, Kwame,
is this being his first offseason as a Laker and
now playing internationally, did you think kind of, with the
information we have so far that this is a good idea?
(30:50):
Should He probably had just you know, stuck to the
Jenny Craig diet and getting shots up in nels again,
though you.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Know, it's tough. That's tough because you know, we've heard
Olympic legs and you know people coming in the season
a little tired when they just played all summer. But
you know what, I don't think it'll be that bad.
I think even Luga commented, our playoff hopes were cut
short a bit earlier than I think we had anticipated,
So we got a little bit longer of a summer
that I think he is normally a bit used to.
(31:16):
So I'm not mad at it, to be honest. I mean,
he's young enough that I think he should be able
to you know, we should be able to kick the
tires and get it moving. I'm just glad he's out
there hooping. I like that we get to see some
of the highlights that he gets to do. He played
against Great Britain, I want to say, late last week
he'p had a really good game twenty eight points, tennis, sists,
six boards, and I think he only played like twenty
(31:38):
eight minutes or so, so he had a hell of
a game. So we know the abilities there. I guess
the big things is we just want help. We wanted
to stay healthy all season. We wanted to continue to
just have the fitness to make it through a season,
you know, be able to make it through games, not
you know, dying on the court because he has no stamina,
stuff like that. And I think, you know, playing through
the summer will help him start the season in games shape,
(32:00):
which I think will actually be really really good for
the Lakers. Again, he comes out in mid season form
to start the season, the league better watch out. And
that's where again it gets it gets interesting. So I'm
excited though. I think Luca's gonna come into the season
on a really really good note. I think he's going
to be ready the season. Like I said, i think
he's gonna come in and you know, close to mid
season for him. Maybe not all the way there, but
probably pretty close. But I'm excited, man. I think it
(32:23):
can really kick off the Luca MVP train, which I
think we'll be pulling that lever all season long to
really screen that into the media and get that narrative
out there. But insummation, I think the EuroBasket, I think
it's good reps for him. Obviously, Slovenia is not the
favorite by any stretch of the imagination. Their team isn't
super super talented and compared to some of the other teams,
(32:43):
but they have Luca and that's enough. And like I said,
if nothing else, I love this opportunity just to get
him some game speed reps. So yeah, I'm not mad
at it, and I'm excited for the season.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
I agree as a fan, I like the idea of
watching my players that I support, you know, get games in,
even not live games. I love watching hoops right, so
just any highlights of your main guys getting after it
is a positive. I am. You know, I am starting
(33:14):
to turn into that old man that is more worried
about players all health than you know, than I necessarily
should be. I think you know, as a kid, you know,
get out there play as much as you want. I
want to see you play as much as you want
to get out the Rucket Park. Go out there. Am
one mixtape to or be a special guest. Right then
do a dunk contest for the kids at the local YMCA.
(33:36):
Right now, I'm thirty three, and you know, contrary to
what Kwame says, there was a basketball and sports career
in my life. And I'm paying a little bit for
some of those injuries today. And I can only imagine
a guy who has been banged up as much as
Luca has. Right, he hasn't been the perfect bill of
health his entire career. I would kind of lean towards hey, brother,
(33:58):
rest up you in La now, get to the best
doctor's money can provide. Then go over to Europe. Get
go getting go to Germany, right going, get the blood
and the t selles spun up, recalibrated. We're on this
side of the fence of availability. You locked in with
big bron Braun. Right, what time is his nutritious available
throughout the week. Let's let's get synced up there. Those
(34:20):
are things now that I'm more concerned about. Obviously, Luca
is a hell of a talent. He is going to
remind the league why he is that dude and why
it's in shockways through the league when he was traded
and Nico Harrison unfortunately but the reality is got death
threats for it, right, He's that good. He is that good, right,
But yeah, man, I'd rather have my guy, you know,
(34:43):
arresting and relaxing and then getting his shots up in
his home gym without the cameras. But it's cool to
see him, you know, kind of giving those speeches. You know,
I do think once you start playing for your national team,
I think you hear some of these European players say
that that kind of means more to them or just
as much them as NBA play and championships and competing.
(35:03):
So not really surprised that he is, you know, being
more outspoken than I guess we would necessarily expect from him.
So yeah, you know, the Slvinian brothers, he's embarrassed for
them because he's part of them, obviously with that being
the national team. So with all said and done, man,
it's cool. Luca's out there. He's enjoying himself as long
as he's happy and one hundred percent by the time
(35:25):
that October day comes around and he gets to take
pictures next to Lebron and Aiden and Austin, I'm cool.
I'm cool. We talked about at the very beginning, but
we're up against the clock, So I'll just ask you
real quick, Kwame Ruy is maybe not going to get
extended by training count. Do you you care or do
you think it makes sense?
Speaker 2 (35:46):
You know, I think it makes a lot of sense.
I think it does. We've heard the rumors, the speculation
that the Lakers are trying to keep their books as
clean as possible for the twenty twenty seven offseason where
a handful of top notch free agents could be on
the market, so obviously they want to keep that flexibility.
I think there's a lot of unknowns with Ruy, like
do we know We don't even know if he's going
to start this year. We don't know is he going
(36:08):
to come off the bench? We all know what kind
of year he's going to have. The Ruy tenure has been,
for the most part, really good, but we've seen some
moments where it's been up and down. And does he
fit in the future? Is there is there a world
where we're looking at a big two. I guess if
you add the haves up, we're thinking a young core
of the future, so to speak of Luca Reeves Ruey.
(36:30):
Is that moving mountains? Is that the direction we want
to go.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
So that's going to be a decision for the Lakers'
front office to decide how they want to move forward.
But to be honest, I think I understand their position
on Ruis. For me, it makes sense that it's unlikely
that he'll get extended again. I think, if anything, there
might be again once I think his role has been
properly assessed, and I think that's what will happen this season.
The future will be all right, well, we see you
(36:56):
as a part of this team, but in this capacity.
I don't know if he's a starter on this team
for the reasons I think defensively he lacks in some areas. Essentially,
he's slotted in the same position Lebron needs to play
this stage of Lebron's career. And can they both share
a court at the same time, I don't know. I
don't know how that's gonna work. So, like I said,
I totally understand why they have not offered him the extension,
(37:17):
and I don't expect them to for like I said,
the twenty twenty seven reason and then just his fits.
So at this point, I don't know. I like RUI
I like him as a player, but now that it's
no longer the Lebron and ad Era, they're looking what's next.
I don't know if he fits in that equation as
well as he might have, But we know Rui's La.
He's throwing up the LA every chance he gets. He's
(37:40):
hanging out with Otani and all the other guy like
he's I think he really does love and enjoy the
LA culture. So if that's really what it is, I'm
sure you can find a roster spot. But will it
be for the money he wants. I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Ru's gonna come back on a discount. They're gonna come
back on discount, and it's literally for the last twenty
seconds of stuff you just said, Man, there's this, there's
still that piece of the equation, like I get it
ruly can go sign. I don't know with Charlotte, Oklahoma City,
you know the Washington Well, he just came from the
Wizards of the San Antonio Spurs at Jordan. Deal has
(38:16):
a lot that comes with it, and part of it
is exposure to big markets. What he would be making,
I don't know his money with the San Antonio Spurs
and salary plus whatever his revenue split variables are selling
merchandise as opposed to what he be paid with the
Lakers and what his endorsement splits are. I just kinda
(38:39):
guess that they might be close enough where you decide
to stay in sunny California, That's my guess. Can he
go and pursue a bigger role for more money? Absolutely,
I will thank you for your time, brother, But would
I be lying if I said that wouldn't be part
of his consideration of do I really want to leave
(38:59):
the beaches and weather and and not for nothing? Man,
California has a huge, huge Asian community representation, Like there's
a reason why Otani went up well even you know,
from the Angels to La, but what part of their
packaging and just the reason why he chose California is
because his familiarity and what he saw there as far
(39:21):
as is a fellow countryman. Ruy said things similarly too.
They didn't realize how big it was. And obviously, you know,
our Chinese and Japanese and Asian communities have been here
for a very long time in Via California, right, So
I do think there's a comfort with being in that
LA market as opposed to other areas of the country.
Where you just might not feel as comfortable and you know,
(39:44):
just speaking truth to fact. Is it some Laker bias? Probably?
But I don't know. You answer the question you want
to go play in San Antonio or La. This is
my thoughts shout out to really no no, no wrong,
no wrong answering over here, brother. But yeah, I think
his role is gonna because what we needed him for
before was a Lebron two point zero. But now that
Lebron is playing the bigger role now and there's no
(40:08):
Anthony Davis on the court, it's almost like, Ruie, we
need this spot possibly to do something else with. So
what he'll get paid is what he weighs at the
end of the season.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
You make a really good point. I think the point
that you made about La versus other markets. I mean,
when Rui was in Washington, Like, who really knew a
Ruie unless you were a NBA purist, you didn't know
the name Rui hachimor like that. You know what I'm saying,
comes to LA popularity booms. Like I said, you made
a great point with the Asian communities that are in
Los Angeles and in California in general, and how that's
(40:42):
kind of bolstered his status, his name, his notoriety. That's
a lot that he's going to have to consider. But yeah,
to your point, I agree. I think when you look
at the lineups, I don't know. Like again, I saw
people talking when I made the comment. I think a
couple pods ago that there's no way Marcus Smartest starting
because he hasn't played a lot of games over the
past couple of seasons, which is fair. But do we
(41:02):
really feel super confident trotting out a lineup of Luka Doncic,
Austin Reeves, rijachimra Lebron James, and DeAndre Ayden? Like how
many people in that lineup do you say a defenders
like maybe one? Like that's not good. I don't think
that's bringing you a championship unfortunately. So again, this that
would be JJ and his coaching staff to They'll have
to let us know what it's going to be. So
(41:24):
I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a
couple of experiments start the season. We see JJ can
get a little experimental at times with some lineups, so
you know, don't take it with a grain of salt.
But I agree with you. I think we should figure
out how we can get back on a nice little
discount for us.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
This is a hotchy More network man like you know,
like we like them. We like him and Geenie. Anyways,
let me in this show before I trouble. Appreciate y'all
rocking us on this episode of the Late Now The Show podcast.
We are back at it weekly episodes. You know we
are going to keep pushing through. Maybe we'll do some more,
do some jersey reviews for what you dropped far the
(42:01):
City edition jerseys this year. You know I got a
soft spot for the jersey reviews. Still, I'm still working
on my eight and bbu a breakdown. We'll take a
look at all of our new players coming up here
to fill us in before we get to our main entrack,
which is Media Day and the start of the twenty
twenty five twenty six NBA season. So appreciate y'all rocking
(42:24):
with us on this episode. For Kwame, It's Ricky plain
Alac Show Pas
Hey, what's going on? Y'all? Welcome to a new episode
of the Late Now Lakes Show podcasts powered by nineteen
Media Group. It is your host to Ricky and Kwame.
We are officially thirty five days away from Lakers Media
Day and things are starting to come into focus. There
are reports that Ruyjachimoor's future is a little up in
the air with the unlikely extension before training camp. We'll
(00:21):
talk about what that means for the Lakers twenty twenty
six cap space. Luka Doncic is clear to return to
Slovenium basketball and his euro Basket run. We'll dive into
what that means for Luca's rehabilitation and his hashtag revenge
tour for the rest of the league this season. Plus,
with the WNBA and the Big Three taking center stage
(00:42):
this summer, we'll tapping into what's going on besides just
our Lakers World Big Three Championship vibes was hilarious. I
don't know you guys called it, but your social media
got your attention. And more importantly, the growing debate that
everybody wants to know Andrew Reese is the cover of
two K twenty six page buckets is absolutely going off
as a rookie. Caitlin Clark still is the media darling
(01:05):
and social Media's lord and savior, and Asia Wilson is
you know, the go So we'll get into who's the
face of the w on this episode, leanne A Lake Shaw.
Let's get into it all right, kwam the starting us off. Man,
I'm actually pretty surprised you haven't called me out. So
I'll call myself out about just my lack of participation
on our Saturday morning basketball run. So I am giving
(01:27):
you the runway to to speak your peace. I've I've
told you my reasoning every time, but you know the
reality is, I'm not there, man, I'm just I'm just
not there. I gotta I gotta hold that, you know, don't.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Talk good man. I get it. You're you're busy, you
got things, you got priorities, but can't claim to be
a hooper if you know who. Unfortunately, So it's just
my two cents. But I'm sure you'll get out. You'll
get back out there eventually.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I'll be out there.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Man.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
You know the coach coach Dad is in full effect,
which is dad dog, It's it's looking at the run.
Wait man, And I'm realizing I'm just getting on the
tarmac to take off. I met I met a guy
at my son's friend's birthday party, and he is he
was the grandfather of the kid of the birthday boy.
(02:12):
And I got to talking to him. You know, I
saw him. You know, every old head that used to
hoop has a look, right. So he's got his Nike
shirt on, some Nike Tech sweats on, and then he's
just walking around in slots with the basketball socks. I'm like, okay,
you still living in there like you in a gym.
So I struck up a conversation with him. Bro. He
was one of the leading founders of mac Irving Fire, which,
(02:36):
if you don't know, is one of the premieer AAU
teams in the Chicago, Illinois midd West l It's a
national brand. He I just got to talk to him
and he started telling me about, you know, everything that
he's been doing. And the long story short, he's got
a son that's going to be a freshman over at
Oh god, I've already forgot what that school was. I
(02:57):
remember it later over in the they're a big tents
with throw over on the east side. But regardless, man,
he's he's a pretty interesting guy. We'll have to get
him on the show. He you know, he knows a
lot about his hoops.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Interesting. Maybe he can give you a pointer or two.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Yeah, we went directly into you have a son that's
about to play college basketball, tell me everything you did.
And then he was like, well, I was literally a
coach since third grade. Moved him to the city. He
played at Kenwood, and he played in all the leagues,
played against Cooper Flag. I'm like, oh, well, I really
don't have time to make that my life, so I
(03:32):
guess I'll just be paying for that access. So we'll see. Man.
Hopefully we can get him on the show and chop
it out with him. Real interesting guy. Absolutely with any event, Quiman,
let's get into news and notes around the league. All right, Up, first,
your favorite three point shooting convict, Malik Beasley. He got
the name off of him. Man, he got the federal
(03:55):
rallys off his case. He is no longer under federal
investigation for a game gambling ring scandal. I'm sure everybody,
so I'm a league. Beezy looked pretty carefree during this
entire investigation. If he checked his Instagram, check to social media,
he was real, live, laugh love. Bro. I think we
all kind of assumed that he was cooked with all
his previous tweets talk about the three point record and
(04:17):
calling out Ant. But he's free, so shout out to him.
Reaction to a Malik Beasley beating the allegations.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Bro. Honestly, I gotta say, I'm surprised. I didn't think
he was gonna get off. I feel like when the
FEDS have a case built against you, you're you're in trouble, man, Like,
the odds of you getting off Scott free are usually
slimmed to none. I'm gonna assume he was just a
very minor accessory to whatever the larger scandal was or
whatever it may be. But clearly he is not, you know,
a liable or chargeable person in his court dealings. He's off,
(04:49):
and now he will be looking to secure his next
spot on his next NBA roster, wherever that may be. Again,
I think this opens up a broader conversation of gambling
in sports and how we I saw with Johntay Porter,
we saw Gilbert Areena's get arrested. He said, I'm snitching
on everybody, you know. Like, I feel like this is
continuing to become a thing. And again even go back
(05:10):
when you talk about like Tim Donahue and the whole
or donneghe was his name, I don't remember whatever, you know,
the Refic scandal that I mean, I watched the documentary
like a couple of years back, and it was that
was at the very beginning of deep sports gambling and
swaying odds and swaying outcomes and all these things. And
(05:32):
I'll be honest, I think it's only going to continue
to get worse now that sports books are now official
sponsors of leagues, and to be honest, controlled outcomes means
more money, more profit for these businesses. So I could
see a world where again is the NBA it self
having a hand in some of these odds that sway
and move a lot of money. There's a lot of
money in sports gambling, and like I said, it's only
(05:54):
going to continue to grow and multiplies, you know, to
be honest, good for Beasley for getting off. Blessings of
him and his next venture wherever that may be. But
I think this is just a broader conversation. So I'm
even curious your thoughts, Rick, Like, what do you think
about sports gambling as it Conte used to expand into
sports and how players, coaches. EIGs now can make quite
(06:16):
a profit off of skewing outcomes, skewing stats, all these
different variables that are now essentially have money behind them.
What are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Yeah, I knew we were in a new era as
far as sports and sports consumption when you saw ESPN
sorow they had in the ring and say, you know what,
we like this betting stuff too. Here's our Mickey Mouse
sports book and no, but now here we are Disney
has a piece of sports gambling. I can't sit here
and say I'm surprised by the direction that we went.
(06:47):
I think that the government just found a way to
feel comfortable about getting the ends on sports gambling because
it's something that has always been around, right, Like even
I remember in high school some of the kids they
talk about they had a book You're you're do it
with a bookie man. But it's it's interesting that we're
now at a place where not only are we past
(07:10):
the bookie stage, the bookies on your app right, the
bookies connected to your bank account where you don't even
need to physically hand over money. All of this stuff
is digitized, including the odds. What you get the odds
at one second is going to change the next second.
I know that's probably you know how it's always been
with gambling, But you're able to manipulate it if you're
(07:30):
the controller so easily, and the public is just, you know,
we're just happy to be able to hopefully win fifty
two one hundred dollars right on a parlay that your
buddy told you about in the discord chat. I think
it's just we're in a place now where the government's
getting their ends, so they're not as concerned about how
(07:51):
the rest is getting played out. So could that lead
to these books finding ways to make more sure. Yeah,
they're not doing their jobs if they're not right, But
how far does that trickle down? Does it trickle down
all the way to the organization? Does it trickle down
to the league? Does it trickle down to the athlete
jagging threes and coming out two minutes into a game
(08:12):
because his parlay that he told his buddies to bet
on him was all the unders. Sounds like it's a
problem at that level, but I think we're kind of
ignoring the bigger picture where it's like, who says that
this isn't already happening on a much much bigger operational scale.
So this is America. You know, I ain't gonna lie
and act like I ain't got a couple of them
(08:33):
things on, locked in on prize picks and DraftKings and
fan Duel and MGM and the ESPN Bad and all
of them. Right, they're like dispensaries. They're they're everywhere now.
So you take the dance with the devil man and
this is where we're at. So not surprised, but just
be careful, folks, don't don't ruin your life on Malik
Beasley over unders.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Honestly, I think that was a beautiful analogy. It's like
they're like dispensaries, because you're right, there's a sports book everywhere.
You ran through it, like several just off the top
of your head, and that's not even covering all of them.
And I think you made another really good point is
that gambling has become so accessible to your average person.
Before you had to go into casino, you had to
know a bookie whatever. If you want to start placing
(09:14):
any type of bet, now it's simply at your fingertips,
upload your ID. Within twenty minutes, you'll have access, so
you could bet your life savings if you want to.
So for real, not only is it a societal thing,
it's also like I said, it's really shifting the landscape
of sports. So how do you keep it? How do
you know that there's integrity in it? I mean, there's
always been conspiracy theories, whether it's the draft, whether it's
(09:37):
you know, who's the champion, whether MVPs, all these things,
and now you could put money behind all these factors.
It could get scary when you really think of like
doomsday scenarios. But like you said, this is America, capitalist
is king, and however the money flows, it will continue
to flow. So this is just another avenue to make
a bunch very very quickly. And like I said, I
(09:58):
think a lot of athletes play. To be honest, there's
probably so much going on we don't even know about.
And I don't need no black vans rolling up to
my crib, but I'm sure there's probably operations that are,
like I said, moving billions around, and we have no idea.
That's just the nature of it. And it's hard to
be able to know judge in tenth of players versus not.
But you know. That's where it gets even more tricky.
So I expect this to continue to be a running
(10:19):
dialogue for the next several years. And I don't even
know if there's any if there's any way to stop
it at this point, can you put a lid on it?
I don't think you know.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Pandora's box is open. Bro, Yeah we'll be You'll be
paying in in credits for I don't know. Man, your
hourly wage can just be auto depositive into a sportsbook
probably soon. So you never know.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
That's fair, that's fair?
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Well real quick? Do you think Beasley ends up back
with the Pistons. They were working on a deal, right
and yeah, you know that fell through. That was a
lot of money and I got taken off the table.
Is Beasley in his right to spend the block and
be like, hey, I's free, Well where to check you at?
You know?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
So? I think the if I've the Pistons, I would
probably bring him back. He had a really good year
for them last year. I think they had really great
synergy with Kay Cunningham. I mean they made the playoffs.
I think there's only room for growth there. I mean
he was offered what a three year forty two million
dollar contract, I believe. So it's good money for Bes,
who was starting to look like a journeyman just scooping
up minimum contracts. But he had a like I said,
(11:20):
had a breakout year. I guess kind of hard to
say a breakout year for twenty eight year old. But again,
quote unquote breakout year did really really well, earned himself
a nice little paycheck, and you know, hopefully he's able
to cash in. But again, you know, like I said,
the scandals are running deep. We just saw Terry rose
Year get investigated. He got off on that one, but
it's going to be continued to be a thing.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Manager his translator. That was the best swept under the
rug thing I've ever seen in my life. That thing
ran so deep. The government's got involved. Hey, hey, we're
done here, we're done. He'll take the fall. Then he'll
probably get out or escape or something happens, and then
this story's over.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Yeah, So I mean it'll be interesting for Beasley though,
But again, he finished second and sixth Man of the
Year voting last season, averaged sixteen points off the bench,
played an all eighty two games. I would actually really
like to see him go back to the Pistons, because
I actually like the Pistons outlook in the east. Next
year and even for the foreseeable future. I think Kate
is a true force of nature down there. I think
(12:19):
he's one of the stars of the future. So I'd
like to see him back. But you know, good for
him gambling things aside, and now he can continue his
NBA career.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Moving right along, Big Qualm. I know, I know you
was locked in. You was in your seat focus Popcorn,
your favorite dope beverage to the Big Three Championship game
at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore. I know you almost
went too. I had to talk you out of the
flights to Baltimore. Bro I got, oh, my boys going
to the University of Maryland. There we go. You see
(12:49):
our life kind of paints the picture for me. Yeah,
he's going to be a turf coming in so yeah,
shout out, shout out to. I probably should have had
his name up anyway, but in any event, of the
trilogy defeated the Dam's fifty one forty seven to win
their fourth Big Three title, led by and BP Isaiah
Brisco twenty points eight rebounds. That is also the team,
(13:10):
as you know of one of your favorite crazy guys
in the world, Michael Beasley, Swaggy Pe. Who else do
we have? Your boy? Your boy hit the game winner?
Mario Chalmers, Mario Chalmers. It's a nice little team of
guys that were really, really, really cold in college. But
kwame were you locked into ice Cube's production of the
(13:31):
Big Three Championship game? Brother?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Oh No, I can't say I was no, And if
I did, I'd be lying to you. I haven't watched
any of the Big Three their entire season or whatever
they run in the summer. But what is funny is
I have seen a lot of highlights, a lot of clips,
you know what the Big Three feels like. And I'm
gonna make a I'm gonna make a broad statement here,
and you know, I hope nobody takes it the wrong way.
Ice Cube, Please, don't, you know, send no people after me.
(13:54):
This is just my opinion that I'm voicing. I'll be honest.
The storylines and the drama is more impactful than the
hoops that are happening on the court. You know, the
the rivalries, the smack talk, the one on one potential
mid game, Like, I think that's more of what it
is than like quality hoops and like, oh wow, this
(14:14):
team was just that's the true definition of the basketball team. Like, nah,
it doesn't really give me that feeling. And again what
I hear is, never look at this crazy performance by
a player. It's so and so was talking back to
so and so after you hit a game winner on
like it's the drama. And to be honest, that's not bad.
Drama sells man, So ice Cube you you might have
cracked the formula. You got a lot of hoopers who
(14:35):
can hoop a couple of hot heads, you know, you
see what I'm saying, like anybody's in this joint, but
you know, you got some people who are teetering the
line of you know, sane and insanity. So it adds.
The drama, adds to the effects. So honestly, as like
almost like a reality TV show production. I gotta give
the Big Three it's props because you do hear a
lot of storylines that surrounded the dramas interesting to talk about.
(14:58):
But I don't really care for the bat basketball. I'm
just not a three on three guy. That's just me.
So Stevens, you know this isn't for me, But I mean,
what did you think of it. Did you were you
tuned in? I know you were locked in. You had
the kids, one on each leg.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
He was tuned in, right, Yeah. I mean, I don't
know if this is an indictment at my parentsing so far,
but Grayson's way more entertained by the Savannah Bananas baseball
than Big three basketball. And I don't necessarily blame him,
but you know, shout out to all the players that
I'm looking at here for the first time and realizing
(15:33):
that they played Big three basketball. Mario Chalmers with the
game winner, what do you say? This is what I
do at every level? He kind of got a good point,
you know.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
He said he's won at every level he's ever played basketball,
youth league, high school, college, NBA, euro League. I think
he played in the Greek League, and then now the
Big Three. He says, I am a winner, I am
a champion. To be honest, he's not wrong. So you
got to give credit where credits due. I wasn't in tune.
But again, it's not for me. Big threees is not
(16:03):
for me. I'm not saying it's not for y'all. It's
not for other people. It shouldn't be for other people.
I actually think the product is dope. Again, I think
when it comes to like an entertainment aspect, the job
of being entertainment. But I'm more of a you know,
traditional list when it comes to five on five hoops.
So that's what I prefer to watch. But that's just me.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
That's fair, that's fair. I want to say this for
the kids anyway, but.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
The way they be talking as not for the kids, right,
It's yeah, that's for the dude who just shows up
to the half court every every day at the park,
just waiting for anybody.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
To step on the shop all day. Yeah, you know,
you know the butt is right the guy You're not
really sure you know what they do for a living,
but they always got to let you know. They they
hot takes every time you see them. Yeah, shout out
to those guys. Look like it was packed too.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah. Again, I think the product does really well. They're
making money. It's the league is functioning the way I
think it should go. But again, to be it's more
about the storylines, the rivalries. It's not all about the basketball.
There's more underlying storylines. I would like it to. I
would liken it to like w w WEE. That's what
I would like in the team in terms of like
(17:10):
the production of basketball, yes, but with the basketball.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
To tie this into a little Laker topic, which one
of the current Lakers do you think is most likeliest
to play in the Big Three once their career is
over current? Huh?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Gave Vincent. He seems like a Big three baller. It's
usually the guards that were like, probably had more skill
than they were able to show because of the role
that you have to play in the NBA, usually go
to the Big three and kind of ball out. I
could see. I could see gave Vincent being a three year.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
I like that. I don't think there are a lot
of answers really, because Big three you kind of have
to have that personality too. You know. As much as
we love our exciting whites, I don't know how many
white guys are in the Big three. And I could
be wrong. I know Scalabrini played like the first year
or something, then he turned into a coach. But definitely
none of our big guys. Definitely not Hayden. You know what,
who's a sleeper one that I think he's a newly
(18:03):
acquired Laker. I could see Marcus Smart getting in there
with the Big Three. When it's all said and done,
I feel like he can, you know, talk his trash
with the best of them. He's already got that you know,
pit bull mentality. So he gonna you know, he gonna
hold his own. So and maybe Jackson Hayes. Jackson Hayes
just you know, just seems like a guy that will
you know, catch some lobs in Big Three and yell.
(18:24):
He does all the theatrical parts really well too of
a Big Three player.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
So yeah, might see him do step backs.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
All right, Moving on, I do not need that image
in my head the day was he practicing threes. We
just recently saw Jackson during the summer, you know, summer highlights.
I'm glad we're all past that era of folks getting
excited about players training during the summer doing moves that
(18:52):
you know are never gonna happen. Mitchell Robinson I think
was the last one. There was like, all right, never
again take any stock into summer high Like this man
is tween tweening step back threes, gets onto the court
and is a lot of threat and shotblocker, and that's it.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Ben Simmons had me goofed for like four straight summers.
He had me in a headlock.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Oh god, I didn't know. I didn't know you were
a believer, bro.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Oh. Ben Simmons was the first heir to the Lebron
James thrown for me. I was team Ben. I got
Ben Simmons. Suresey's in the closet, they're.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Buried, but I got him.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Man. I was a Ben Simmons enthusiast brother. Yeah, and
then he decided his back hurt and his mental shrink
or whatever happened. You know, I don't want to take
mental health as a joke, because I get it. It
can really knock you off the cliff. But man, he
went to be honest, his best season was literally like
his rookie season, and that he proceeded to regress. So yeah,
(19:48):
and then Luca came along, and then it was like
we over here. So yeah, he was supposed to be
the first Brown disciple. He came in a better passer, bigger,
not as athletic, but you know, I felt like he
had a better game feel. Obviously wasn't quite the score
Bron was. I was a Ben Simmons enthusiast bro telling
me I've been looking for my next Brown, but we
got here.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Laklan got traded to the Lakers. Look at God, Look
at God, Late Night Lake Show. The last topic for
are around the Horn, which is turned into probably half
the show length. But it's all good. We're wrapping up
the dog days of summer, get us into a media
day in training camp, and then we're off and running
every week for y'all. I appreciate y'all walking into the
Late Night Lake Show with Ricky and Akwame. Finally. Uh,
(20:31):
you know, the NBA basketball has been doing their thing.
I would say probably the past you know, three four
or five seasons, but really making an effort of getting
onto the center stage and capturing who fans attention during
this time obviously with the NBA during their summer break,
this is the time where the w NBA shines. Excuse
me that w is able to shine along with you know,
(20:54):
the Big Three at a very lower extent. Right. So
games have been great, man, there was a lot of
talent in the league. You know, we are seeing another
rising rookie just absolutely just torched the old guard in
uh in page Buker's page buckets. Excuse me, Uh, she's
going crazy, man, dropping forty four against the sparks on
(21:17):
Kwame's favorite player's head. Well, first of all, did you
want to comment anything about your Yeah, your your booskie
getting absolutely barbecued by Page.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Now, every hooper's gotten got by another hooper. It just happens.
It's the natural progression of the sport. Uh. But Page
is one, So I'm not even mad at it. I've
liked Page's game for a while. Now there you go,
and she's coming to the w and she's she's making
her impact. So I gotta give it. I gotta give
credit where credits due. But you know, Kelsey Plumb, that's
that's that's my that's my dog. I'm a plumb dog millionaire.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
How tall is she, Kelsey Plump, Kelsey Plumb?
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I think five nine?
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Okay, then how tall is Page? Because she's six foot yeah,
I believe she's six foot yeah. Yeah, No, So she
looks great. I mean, you know this is not a
surprise if you've you know, obviously been a disciple of
the Church of Kobe. Page is from the Mamba Academy,
coming up playing on his AAU teams. Kobe you know,
(22:15):
before he passed, had already signed off on her, stamped
her as being one of the next ones to take
over and just really exudes that mamba mentality. And I
believe that she had an interview shortly after he passed
and she was able to talk about just how much
she meant to him and like how that was actual
family and how close they were. So, you know, it's
(22:37):
really cool to see now today her doing what she
was destined to do and destined to be, and that
to be an absolute bucket getter. But I gotta ask,
you got Paige yet. Angel Reese has the cover of
two K twenty six. I know, I know angels up
there as somebody that you know, Nick, a little contraver Marchel,
(23:00):
but cover athlete. Man, They're not doing it just forits
and giggles. She has coined the phrase me bounds, which
I think is genius. She flipped that on its head
about folks thinking that she's just an offensive rebound merchant.
And she's by all intensive purposes, got one of the
hottest shoes out right now with her pumas. She's definitely
(23:21):
in consideration Kayln Clark, who has been banged up this year. Right, obviously,
this has not been a season as strong or as
as dynamic as her rookie year. But Kaylen, you know
it's still a very, very very talented person and she's
already captured a portion of the w and America I
for being really honest. That will always keep her at
(23:42):
the top of the total pool and bro then we
didn't even get to the actual best player, reigning MVP,
Asia Wilson, who you know?
Speaker 2 (23:51):
To me?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
You know, respect to Cheryl Swoops, respect to my more
respect to Diana Tarassi, But like in respect Delisa Wesley,
that childhood go, the childhood go right? Candace Parker, Yeah,
Candace right, the childhood Boskie right? Again, the shockwaves throughout
the world when when everybody found out that she was
(24:12):
on the other team. But that's a different day. Long story,
short man, there's a lot of different names that are
pulling in a lot of eyes to the sport. My
question to you, Kwame for your dollar, who are you
going to see out of those big four?
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Man? That's tough. I can only choose one, to be honest,
I think for me personally, I gotta go Asia Wilson.
I've been a fan of her for a minute. Actually
started watching the WNBA in the twenty one twenty two
season that was the year the Aces captured their first
championship then went back to back. Couldn't do the three
p but it is what it is, and I really
like her game. Man. You know, she's to me, she's
(24:49):
one of the best offensive players. She's an incredible defensive player.
I mean, she's one defensive players of the year. She
has a really solid game. Like again, she's very good
at about everything. You know what I'm saying. I'm a fan.
I to me, she's the best player that I've seen
with my eyes. And again, I haven't watched a ton
of the w NBA, so I will never complain that
(25:12):
somebody says it's like you said, Diana Tarassi, Lisa Leslie,
Chryl Swoops, Maya Moore. I did get to see a
bit of Maya Moore because when she was popping, she
was popping. She was cold out there on the court.
So I can't even hate on Maya Moore. Just the
career cut too short, which is a shame. But these
young girls got it though. Man, I can't even lie
to you. All three the women that you named injuries,
(25:33):
Paige Beckers and Caitlin Clark all have game and you
know they appeal to some different groups as well. So
there's there's there's some there's a bit there.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
And that's good for the game. Man. I everybody's supposed
to cheer for in support and love the same person.
In fact, I think the sport grows when they have
that polarizing figures are in different corners of the country. Man,
I think it's good.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
I think it's all a great I agree. I mean,
what brought the NBA back into prominence Bird.
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Magic versus magic.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Yep, you know, so I have no issue with this. Again,
let's keep it respectful and again, plenty of times, I
know people can get a little crazy when it comes
to you know, racial conversations just then being women conversations, Like,
let's let's turn all that down, focus on the hoops
what we're seeing. Obviously, there's still different types of hoopers. Obviously,
Caitlin was brought in to basically be the hub, the engine,
(26:22):
everything for a team, and you know, Angel Reese was
drafted to a team that's kind of lacking a bit
of an identity and they're still working through that page.
Becker is obviously a tough team that she's trying to
carry as well. Rique Goumbawally's had a terrible season this year,
so it hasn't really gotten a ton of help in
that aspect. But you know that's just the delay of
the land currently. But I think all four of these
(26:43):
women are fantastic basketball players. Angel Reese, again, she's used
marketing to her to her advantage. You know, we saw
the Reese's Pieces thing that she dropped out being a
capitalized on that last name. People are making fun of
her saying she gets her own rebound. She said, we're
gonna coin the phrase me bounds and look she going.
Now she's marketing herself super super well. But again, let
(27:05):
not I don't want to say that she's not performing
on the court as well, because she is Paige Beckers.
I think she's had a fantastic rookie season. It may
not have spelt as dynamic as Kaitlyn Clark because you know,
she's not pulling from half court every single play, but
she does have a very sound game. She's a very
intelligent player. I've always enjoyed her game, even dating back
to when she was in Yukon. So I think Page
(27:27):
is going to be a really good players. This continues,
wait till they get some pieces around her. She thrown
off all the playmaking chops that she has, but she
is a playmaker extraordinaire on top of being a top
level bucket getter. Heykaitlyn Clark, we already saw what she
could do last year again, smashing records left and right.
Triple double girl, you know, could score from anywhere. The
WNBA has a really really bright future, and that's just
(27:50):
the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot of other
women who are really really talented in this league, and
the more they could show off their game, their visibility,
whatever it may be, I think they have a really
good opportunity to break out as a sports league, and
I think we're seeing the genesis here. But the league
itself has a responsibility to market these players properly and
to keep the game the game and not entertain the
other nonsense. So it's a big responsibility. But I think
(28:11):
it's really cool to see where the WNBA was, let's say,
a decade ago, to where it's going now. And there's
a lot of exciting players. You know, we got Juju
coming in in a couple of years, which is also
going to be really really great. I think the w
is going to be in really good hands. These young
girls can hoop man, and I get it, you're not
seeing high flying dunks and everything, but hey, every year
(28:34):
these girls, their game is looking a little more advanced
every single year. So again, I think we're going to
see a point where the game is going to mimic
the men's game very closely. Obviously not the athleticism portion,
but you're going to see the skills start to really
start to like parallel more and more as we've seen
these last couple of years. But to answer your question, ultimately,
(28:55):
if I got to drop a dollar, I'm going to
see Asia Wilson. I think she's just an incredible, incredible player,
obviously super established at a statue at the university, the
University of South Carolina. She had a statue when she
was like, what like twenty two years old. Who's doing
that now? That is legendary personifides I gotta give I
got to my half to Asia. What are your thoughts?
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Yeah, I'm going with Asia and we'll leave it in.
Asia is something.
Speaker 2 (29:23):
They well call down for we get bam out here.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
I bet, I bet, hey, I'm sending under you. I'm
saying to your kwame said it, I'm just putting scripts together.
Shout out Asia Wilson transitioning over into our big talking.
This will be a little extra dieter on a little
bit of a time crunch today. But as we previously
pointed out earlier, Luka Donc is back. He is clear
(29:46):
to play with his Slovenian national team. He was able to,
you know, start warming up and getting through practice id.
So it just took a little time off right to
take care of that little minor knee scared during the
warm ups for Slovenia's previous game. But Luca looks good.
He looks like he'll be a okay and even more importantly,
(30:07):
he'll be a okay when training camp pulls up on
us here. In just over a month. We did see
Luca with a nice passionate leadership moment, delivering a locker
room speech during the team after a team's blowout loss.
And yeah, there's things that we just love to see
as we get to learn more about the man the leader.
(30:28):
We saw what the player Luca was before the Lakers
and as he started to get into the shape with
the Lakers. So I'm excited to just continue to lean
in and learn more about the guy. But like you know, Kwame,
is this being his first offseason as a Laker and
now playing internationally, did you think kind of, with the
information we have so far that this is a good idea?
(30:50):
Should He probably had just you know, stuck to the
Jenny Craig diet and getting shots up in nels again,
though you.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Know, it's tough. That's tough because you know, we've heard
Olympic legs and you know people coming in the season
a little tired when they just played all summer. But
you know what, I don't think it'll be that bad.
I think even Luga commented, our playoff hopes were cut
short a bit earlier than I think we had anticipated,
So we got a little bit longer of a summer
that I think he is normally a bit used to.
(31:16):
So I'm not mad at it, to be honest. I mean,
he's young enough that I think he should be able
to you know, we should be able to kick the
tires and get it moving. I'm just glad he's out
there hooping. I like that we get to see some
of the highlights that he gets to do. He played
against Great Britain, I want to say, late last week
he'p had a really good game twenty eight points, tennis, sists,
six boards, and I think he only played like twenty
(31:38):
eight minutes or so, so he had a hell of
a game. So we know the abilities there. I guess
the big things is we just want help. We wanted
to stay healthy all season. We wanted to continue to
just have the fitness to make it through a season,
you know, be able to make it through games, not
you know, dying on the court because he has no stamina,
stuff like that. And I think, you know, playing through
the summer will help him start the season in games shape,
(32:00):
which I think will actually be really really good for
the Lakers. Again, he comes out in mid season form
to start the season, the league better watch out. And
that's where again it gets it gets interesting. So I'm
excited though. I think Luca's gonna come into the season
on a really really good note. I think he's going
to be ready the season. Like I said, i think
he's gonna come in and you know, close to mid
season for him. Maybe not all the way there, but
probably pretty close. But I'm excited, man. I think it
(32:23):
can really kick off the Luca MVP train, which I
think we'll be pulling that lever all season long to
really screen that into the media and get that narrative
out there. But insummation, I think the EuroBasket, I think
it's good reps for him. Obviously, Slovenia is not the
favorite by any stretch of the imagination. Their team isn't
super super talented and compared to some of the other teams,
(32:43):
but they have Luca and that's enough. And like I said,
if nothing else, I love this opportunity just to get
him some game speed reps. So yeah, I'm not mad
at it, and I'm excited for the season.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
I agree as a fan, I like the idea of
watching my players that I support, you know, get games in,
even not live games. I love watching hoops right, so
just any highlights of your main guys getting after it
is a positive. I am. You know, I am starting
(33:14):
to turn into that old man that is more worried
about players all health than you know, than I necessarily
should be. I think you know, as a kid, you know,
get out there play as much as you want. I
want to see you play as much as you want
to get out the Rucket Park. Go out there. Am
one mixtape to or be a special guest. Right then
do a dunk contest for the kids at the local YMCA.
(33:36):
Right now, I'm thirty three, and you know, contrary to
what Kwame says, there was a basketball and sports career
in my life. And I'm paying a little bit for
some of those injuries today. And I can only imagine
a guy who has been banged up as much as
Luca has. Right, he hasn't been the perfect bill of
health his entire career. I would kind of lean towards hey, brother,
(33:58):
rest up you in La now, get to the best
doctor's money can provide. Then go over to Europe. Get
go getting go to Germany, right going, get the blood
and the t selles spun up, recalibrated. We're on this
side of the fence of availability. You locked in with
big bron Braun. Right, what time is his nutritious available
throughout the week. Let's let's get synced up there. Those
(34:20):
are things now that I'm more concerned about. Obviously, Luca
is a hell of a talent. He is going to
remind the league why he is that dude and why
it's in shockways through the league when he was traded
and Nico Harrison unfortunately but the reality is got death
threats for it, right, He's that good. He is that good, right,
But yeah, man, I'd rather have my guy, you know,
(34:43):
arresting and relaxing and then getting his shots up in
his home gym without the cameras. But it's cool to
see him, you know, kind of giving those speeches. You know,
I do think once you start playing for your national team,
I think you hear some of these European players say
that that kind of means more to them or just
as much them as NBA play and championships and competing.
(35:03):
So not really surprised that he is, you know, being
more outspoken than I guess we would necessarily expect from him.
So yeah, you know, the Slvinian brothers, he's embarrassed for
them because he's part of them, obviously with that being
the national team. So with all said and done, man,
it's cool. Luca's out there. He's enjoying himself as long
as he's happy and one hundred percent by the time
(35:25):
that October day comes around and he gets to take
pictures next to Lebron and Aiden and Austin, I'm cool.
I'm cool. We talked about at the very beginning, but
we're up against the clock, So I'll just ask you
real quick, Kwame Ruy is maybe not going to get
extended by training count. Do you you care or do
you think it makes sense?
Speaker 2 (35:46):
You know, I think it makes a lot of sense.
I think it does. We've heard the rumors, the speculation
that the Lakers are trying to keep their books as
clean as possible for the twenty twenty seven offseason where
a handful of top notch free agents could be on
the market, so obviously they want to keep that flexibility.
I think there's a lot of unknowns with Ruy, like
do we know We don't even know if he's going
to start this year. We don't know is he going
(36:08):
to come off the bench? We all know what kind
of year he's going to have. The Ruy tenure has been,
for the most part, really good, but we've seen some
moments where it's been up and down. And does he
fit in the future? Is there is there a world
where we're looking at a big two. I guess if
you add the haves up, we're thinking a young core
of the future, so to speak of Luca Reeves Ruey.
(36:30):
Is that moving mountains? Is that the direction we want
to go.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
So that's going to be a decision for the Lakers'
front office to decide how they want to move forward.
But to be honest, I think I understand their position
on Ruis. For me, it makes sense that it's unlikely
that he'll get extended again. I think, if anything, there
might be again once I think his role has been
properly assessed, and I think that's what will happen this season.
The future will be all right, well, we see you
(36:56):
as a part of this team, but in this capacity.
I don't know if he's a starter on this team
for the reasons I think defensively he lacks in some areas. Essentially,
he's slotted in the same position Lebron needs to play
this stage of Lebron's career. And can they both share
a court at the same time, I don't know. I
don't know how that's gonna work. So, like I said,
I totally understand why they have not offered him the extension,
(37:17):
and I don't expect them to for like I said,
the twenty twenty seven reason and then just his fits.
So at this point, I don't know. I like RUI
I like him as a player, but now that it's
no longer the Lebron and ad Era, they're looking what's next.
I don't know if he fits in that equation as
well as he might have, But we know Rui's La.
He's throwing up the LA every chance he gets. He's
(37:40):
hanging out with Otani and all the other guy like
he's I think he really does love and enjoy the
LA culture. So if that's really what it is, I'm
sure you can find a roster spot. But will it
be for the money he wants. I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Ru's gonna come back on a discount. They're gonna come
back on discount, and it's literally for the last twenty
seconds of stuff you just said, Man, there's this, there's
still that piece of the equation, like I get it
ruly can go sign. I don't know with Charlotte, Oklahoma City,
you know the Washington Well, he just came from the
Wizards of the San Antonio Spurs at Jordan. Deal has
(38:16):
a lot that comes with it, and part of it
is exposure to big markets. What he would be making,
I don't know his money with the San Antonio Spurs
and salary plus whatever his revenue split variables are selling
merchandise as opposed to what he be paid with the
Lakers and what his endorsement splits are. I just kinda
(38:39):
guess that they might be close enough where you decide
to stay in sunny California, That's my guess. Can he
go and pursue a bigger role for more money? Absolutely,
I will thank you for your time, brother, But would
I be lying if I said that wouldn't be part
of his consideration of do I really want to leave
(38:59):
the beaches and weather and and not for nothing? Man,
California has a huge, huge Asian community representation, Like there's
a reason why Otani went up well even you know,
from the Angels to La, but what part of their
packaging and just the reason why he chose California is
because his familiarity and what he saw there as far
(39:21):
as is a fellow countryman. Ruy said things similarly too.
They didn't realize how big it was. And obviously, you know,
our Chinese and Japanese and Asian communities have been here
for a very long time in Via California, right, So
I do think there's a comfort with being in that
LA market as opposed to other areas of the country.
Where you just might not feel as comfortable and you know,
(39:44):
just speaking truth to fact. Is it some Laker bias? Probably?
But I don't know. You answer the question you want
to go play in San Antonio or La. This is
my thoughts shout out to really no no, no wrong,
no wrong answering over here, brother. But yeah, I think
his role is gonna because what we needed him for
before was a Lebron two point zero. But now that
Lebron is playing the bigger role now and there's no
(40:08):
Anthony Davis on the court, it's almost like, Ruie, we
need this spot possibly to do something else with. So
what he'll get paid is what he weighs at the
end of the season.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
You make a really good point. I think the point
that you made about La versus other markets. I mean,
when Rui was in Washington, Like, who really knew a
Ruie unless you were a NBA purist, you didn't know
the name Rui hachimor like that. You know what I'm saying,
comes to LA popularity booms. Like I said, you made
a great point with the Asian communities that are in
Los Angeles and in California in general, and how that's
(40:42):
kind of bolstered his status, his name, his notoriety. That's
a lot that he's going to have to consider. But yeah,
to your point, I agree. I think when you look
at the lineups, I don't know. Like again, I saw
people talking when I made the comment. I think a
couple pods ago that there's no way Marcus Smartest starting
because he hasn't played a lot of games over the
past couple of seasons, which is fair. But do we
(41:02):
really feel super confident trotting out a lineup of Luka Doncic,
Austin Reeves, rijachimra Lebron James, and DeAndre Ayden? Like how
many people in that lineup do you say a defenders
like maybe one? Like that's not good. I don't think
that's bringing you a championship unfortunately. So again, this that
would be JJ and his coaching staff to They'll have
to let us know what it's going to be. So
(41:24):
I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a
couple of experiments start the season. We see JJ can
get a little experimental at times with some lineups, so
you know, don't take it with a grain of salt.
But I agree with you. I think we should figure
out how we can get back on a nice little
discount for us.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
This is a hotchy More network man like you know,
like we like them. We like him and Geenie. Anyways,
let me in this show before I trouble. Appreciate y'all
rocking us on this episode of the Late Now The Show podcast.
We are back at it weekly episodes. You know we
are going to keep pushing through. Maybe we'll do some more,
do some jersey reviews for what you dropped far the
(42:01):
City edition jerseys this year. You know I got a
soft spot for the jersey reviews. Still, I'm still working
on my eight and bbu a breakdown. We'll take a
look at all of our new players coming up here
to fill us in before we get to our main entrack,
which is Media Day and the start of the twenty
twenty five twenty six NBA season. So appreciate y'all rocking
(42:24):
with us on this episode. For Kwame, It's Ricky plain
Alac Show Pas
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