LeBron, AD, Reaves, D-Lo Coach Ham x James Worthy React To Lakers/Bulls | March 29, 2023

The Lakers had a full squad tonight, minus Mo Bamba, of course, with LeBron and D'Lo back in the starting lineup. The Lakers avenged their loss to the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. It was their turn to dominate as they get back to .500, big game, James. Big win. Needed to start off that five-game road trip. Yeah, we talked about it in pregame, rarely you get a chance to redeem yourself and play the same team back-to-back. They had a couple days off to prepare for this, and tonight's game was a good start. I think the starters tonight really took care of business early. Of course, Chicago made a good comeback after the Lakers turned it over a little bit in the second quarter, but A.D. made his presence known along with LeBron. Thirteen offensive rebounds really helped get them going to domination on that end. So I think overall it was a good team effort, but the starters did a great job tonight. Russell hit when he had to, and they did what they had to do on the road to get a win. James, 107 of the 121 points we'll talk about in a little bit came from the starters. Pretty amazing. And you mentioned the second-chance points, 29 of them. Yeah, man, I thought they got good shots when they moved the basketball. I think 22 assists tonight, which is not a crazy high number, but I thought they played with the right intentions offensively for the most part. Not as many possessions where they stood and kind of watched either A.D. or LeBron play. And just good stretches with Austin Reeves, D'Angelo, LeBron on the floor, A.D. to really see the multiple ball handlers and decision makers that really allowed the Lakers to get almost anything they wanted. And then we'll talk more as the show goes on. The free-throw differential, I think, is going to continue to be something to watch with this team. Since January the 29th, by far the highest free-throw differential in the league, which allows you to also get your defense set more times. And so, just some good things that they were able to build on tonight. Yeah, Lakers just 7 of 20 from 3, but it didn't matter, they were plus 13 in the rebounding category, taking advantage of Noandre Drummond as well. Let's go back to Chicago. A.D. is with Mike Trudell. All right, Anthony, I know you've been waiting a while to try and get that optimized starting lineup. A look at it, right? Since you made the trade at the deadline, certainly looked good tonight. What did you think was the deal with that starting group, and why did it have success? You know, honestly, we just came out hungry. We know we needed to win. Honestly, this team just beat us a couple nights ago. We want to get some get-back. And this whole trip, we call it the get-back trip. Every team on this trip has beat us the last time we played them, so we want to start off the trip right with a W, and we took care of business tonight. An efficient 38 for you, a couple of steals, a couple of blocks, no turnovers, double-digit rebounds. A.D., what was your focus level coming back here to Chicago? And again, you mentioned this is a team that just beat you on Sunday. Yeah, man. I always love playing home. I get to play with all my family and friends. I don't get a chance to do that all the time. We come here once a year, so, you know, I always try to come out and perform well and have this moment, you know, especially not just for me, but for the family as well. So, most importantly, we just got to win, you know, come out with an aggressive mindset knowing that we needed to win. The guys locked in. The guys played well on both ends of the basketball, and even though they made their runs, we stayed resilient and were able to, you know, come back there and run with our own, and came out with a victory, man. That's all that matters. I think I know the answer to this because I asked your dad, but is it kind of hard being a Packer fan in Chicago, A.D.? Like, are they aware of this fact here? Yeah, I think they're aware of it. They don't have to worry about that anymore. Well, actually, I'm always a die-hard Packer fan, so I'm going to still be a Packer even if my quarterback leaves. You know, I just have two teams, but, yeah, I get a lot of heat about that, especially from my dad about being a Packer fan in Chicago. All right, last one for you. So, you've talked about Pat Bebb before, right? You know how he is. Did you enjoy or get any enjoyment out of the Austin Reeves too small going back at him in that way? Yes, for sure. The crowd was into it, too. You know, having Pat Bebb over here was obviously awesome. That's what he do. He was talking, whatever, Sunday, and we came out and made sure that he don't talk tonight. But it's all love, you know, when we're battling, and him and Austin obviously have a great relationship. So, it was funny. You know, he did it to Bron, and so Austin got some give-back for Bron, so we love to see it. It's all love. Thank you. Appreciate it, A.D. You get A.D. involved early as a big, and take advantage of his talent early. Get the ball close to the cup, he's going to collapse the defense. But one-on-one, it's just no match for him. He can get to the cup, he has nice little floaters. That set the stage. He also had a defensive presence as well, so he set the stage early and was able to sustain it throughout the game. And there's a, literally, big difference between Nikola Vujovic, and then, in the second unit, I think at times, Derrick Jones Jr. and other guys trying to guard Anthony Davis, compared to Sunday afternoon, it was Andre Drummond. I do want to talk a little Austin Reeves. Personally, I loved what he did at the end of the game when he did his two small to Patrick Beverly. That is part of the fun. That is part of the entertainment. Those guys have a great relationship. Lakers lose Sunday in an embarrassing fashion at home, but turn it around and give it right back to the Chicago Bulls. I love his toughness. I love his attitude. We talked before the game. He is second in the league at numbers post-All-Star break to pre when it comes to assists. I've never tried, I've never seen, you know, Austin try to do anything too fast or, you know, out of the ordinary. He just kind of takes the game as it comes. You know, you set a pick, he'll take it. If you go under, he'll step back, shoot the three. You know, if he gets you behind him, he'll try to get his body into you, he'll make the great pass. So, I think, you know, Coach Hammond has found a gem in Austin. You know, he's kind of like a guy that can do a little bit of everything. And so, his awareness on the court, Geter, makes that first unit run very well, along with A.D. and LeBron. And Fish, I would argue he was maybe even the fourth option ball hand if you add Dennis in there. And he still had five assists. Yeah, I mean, with that starting group, the game is actually easier for Austin, you know, when LeBron is in the lineup, A.D.'s in the lineup, and then D'Angelo's ability to make plays with the basketball. Austin, oftentimes, whether initiating with the ball or without the ball, those three guys have drawn a lot of attention in terms of the defensive coverage. And so, Austin's ability to make plays for himself or be able to drive and make easy things happen for Vando or other guys, that actually is easier as they get hold and healthy. But that's the versatility that this team has now added with some of the trades. And then you talk about Dennis' ability to command and run a second unit, that's really exciting for this team. All right, let's hear from Darvin Hamm. He's speaking with Mike in the media. Darvin, I guess the eye test and just the numbers showed this starting lineup worked pretty well in the first time together. What did you see clicking with that group? Again, just communication, those guys talking through the defense, talking through the offense, which actions were fruitful, which ones weren't, and just, you know, working through it, talking through it. Chicago's a hell of a ball club with a lot of capable players that can do you in. When you think about Vooch and Damar and Zach, Colby off the bench, they have a plethora of guys that can make huge impacts throughout the course of a 48-minute game. So I just wanted to try to put them in some uncomfortable positions with their defense and sort of spread the ball around a little bit. Not overdose on any one or two actions, but just try to slowly sift through the offense and see what was bringing us the most returns. And then just looking at the bench unit, what's the balance with LeBron and D'Lo kind of both coming back and kind of minutes and that, and wanted to stagger them some with that unit versus, you know, just kind of keep them together with the starters more. How are you looking at that? Yeah, it's good to have one of those guys, whether it's LeBron, D'Lo, A.R., one of those guys on the floor with the bench unit. And, you know, I thought Malik, you know, had a couple rough moments tonight, but he's a trooper man. He's not going to stop fighting, not going to stop competing. And, you know, it is nice where he's saved our behinds, too. And I look forward to him doing that more often going forward. But, you know, having one of those guys out there with or if it's all five guys, you know, just making sure we get into a rhythm and we try to find the actions and the defensive coverage that suits that group. I guess I'll have a follow on Malik. He obviously looks like he's not comfortable out there or hasn't been as comfortable as of late. What do you do as a coach to get a guy's confidence back up? Well, I don't know if he's lost confidence. He's probably a little frustrated. I mean, you just again, I'm behind him 1000 percent and he's going to continue to get his minutes. And we just got to continue to set great screens for him, encourage him to continue to shoot the ball and to continue to compete defensively. There's no really magic pill. You just got to keep playing ball. You know, every night's not going to be a night in the 82 game season. You're going to struggle. Have nights where you struggle. Same goes with Bron, AD, Austin, D'Lo, you know, Dennis, nobody, you know, nobody is 82 and 0 in terms of outstanding performances. So you just got to continue to encourage him to do what he does. And I'm sure he'll do that. AD, 30 and 10, obviously a monster game. It seemed to me LeBron rather quickly looked like his old self, even like a more impactful night than he had the other day. What do you see out of LeBron? I mean, it's easy for LeBron to roam free, man, when A is playing with a sense of urgency and A is really dominating and leading the charge and playing with force. It's easy for guys to, you know, to eat off that wave. And he did that tonight. I thought he came out early and set a tone. We called his number a lot. And you know, those guys, they're trying to double team him, they're trying to shade and shift extra bodies over to be, you know, in his circumference. And you know, when we start playing second and third side basketball, backside basketball, and then when A went out, you know, Bron being able to get some really good looks based off those guys trying to crowd A, got him into a good rhythm and got him going. So now we can go call his number and Austin had his moments, D'Lo had his moments, so. But it all starts with A, man, him just playing with force, him not settling, putting pressure on the defense to foul, him being just loving and living in the paint. And it allows other guys to quietly get into a rhythm and then get to the point where we can't feature them as well. Darvin, I mean, you kind of just alluded to it, but what did you feel like was the biggest difference with A.D. tonight versus last game against Chicago? Was it him asserting himself playing with more force or did you make a tactical adjustment that you feel like, you know, kind of answered the way they were guarding him last game? I mean, it's just what you said, him asserting himself and playing with more force. You know, sometimes if it's not a direct double team, you got to say the hell with it, put your head down and try to attack the rim, force the defense to move and shift. You know, it's kind of tough when you hold a ball and you're indecisive and you're settling for a 17, 18 footer. You know, he's really good at making those mid-range shots, by the way, so who can blame him? But at the end of the day, in order to penetrate the defense, to get those guys off balance defensively, to put them in a vulnerable position where they may have to foul and to also get your teammates going on the backside in two-on-one or three-on-two situations because they are indeed doubling you. You have to be assertive. You have to be a little greedy and not settle. You know, everything has to be toward the paint, toward the rim and he set a great tone, unbelievable tone. You see the 14 free throws, that's indicative of him, you know, being really forceful with his touches. Darvin, was LeBron on any sort of minutes limit tonight? Was LeBron on a minutes limit at all tonight or is he no restrictions at this point? Yeah, we got a little timetable for him and we stretched it a little bit, but you know, it's tough because he's feeling good, he's feeling great and obviously we need him, but you know, we managed to finish the game off without him having to go too far over. And you, the adjustment you made in the fourth to go with D'Angelo, with the bench guys, with Dennis and stuff like that, how did you see him kind of smooth things out with that group and you know, I think they actually stretched the lead there after the other bench lineups. I think both times were kind of negatives at the start of the second, end of the, start of the second, end of the first, end of the third. I just think D'Angelo is a calming force. He's stable, he takes his time, you can't speed him up and you can't slow him down once he gets, you know, in his mind where he wants to take the ball, where he wants to go and how he wants to attack the defense. And you need that, you know, especially the game is a little topsy-turvy, they've seen a couple of threes go in, they've cut into our lead, settle everyone down, make sure we're all in the proper spacing and then you activate whatever action it is that you're trying to execute. And he's really, really great at reading the game that way and again, another guy that puts the defense in a vulnerable position, whether it's trying to guard him or defend his pocket pass to a big rolling or him finding someone on the back side, but he's able to calm everything down and just be more steady and sturdy. So, I mean, you have a sturdy backcourt dealer like Austin looking 40 foot, 20 foot to field. How impressive were they and what do you think of Austin doing that too little, too packed back as Buddy? You know, I let them, I leave that up to them, man. That's just as guys out having fun, man. You know, you can't take stuff like that personally. We already have a rule in place with the league that guys got to sit down, they really can't jump up. And I get it. You know, it's just some guys went a little overboard last year, stepping onto the floor and all of that, but we never want to get to a point, like I said, as long as there's nothing personal or no one's talking bad about family members or spouses or kids or anything like that, like the guys got to be able to have fun as much as they put up with within this business. They got to be able to have fun, a little bit of fun and a little friendly trash talk or trash talk gestures. You know, it's not, it's, it's, it's what the league has been about throughout the years. You know, the Gary Paytons, the Larry birds, everybody, so MJ. So that's just what it is. But, um, and what was the first one? Yeah. Very efficient. Yeah. Just very efficient. Two guys. You just see, just trying to make the right play constantly trying to make the right play, whether it's for themselves or for a teammate or making a pass that sets up the scoring pass and, you know, an opposite and trying to be in the right position and compete as hard as they can defensively. Thanks coach. Thank you. It was pretty clear right out, right out of halftime. They were, they're trying to get LeBron in favorable switches, especially cause Zach was in foul trouble. Is that just, you know, good match, good, smart play by them or what, what'd you say? Well, I mean, it's something that they've run. I mean, they, they, they, they do that quite a bit. They try to do it the first game. Um, you know, listen, if, if he's going to take turnaround jump shots and he may think he made his first two tough shots, you're going to live with those and, you know, tip your hat to him. That's why he's a great player. He makes great shots, but you want that more so than you want them finishing the room, getting to the free throw line or getting others involved. But he made some tough shots and you know, we battled as, as, as I thought as well as we could on those shots that he made the only guy scoring for you. What'd you see with the rest of that? Yeah. I mean, that was part of the, part of the issue. I don't think there's anything wrong. I think we had some pretty good looks. I was really pleased. I think, you know, we weren't, we were shooting an okay percentage, but I think at one point there, we, we had a good number of assists in the first half. The ball was moving. I liked the way we were trying to play. We got a lot of really good open looks. Part of it was they were trapping Zach. At times they were trapping them. I thought those guys did a good job getting off of it, got the ball moved and you know, we just didn't, didn't really make enough shots. I thought, you know, I thought Zach had a great opportunity at the first possession where kind of went in there to the rim. I think he just lost the ball a little bit going up and you know, again, I thought we had decent looks. We just couldn't get anything to go. And I think that was why they jumped because they, they didn't shoot a lot of threes, but I think they maybe made their first three threes and they only made three threes, I think the entire half and they were right in the beginning of the game and they jumped on us. And I think that that was encouraging to me was the fact that we got jumped on and we knew that the game was going to be like that. They were going to try to come play like that. But we like responded and took the lead after that, you know, but obviously we didn't close the half very well, you know, getting down by, I think maybe seven or eight. And then in the third quarter, you know, LeBron made some tough shots and then, you know, our inability maybe to score with them hurt us. It's okay coming out of halftime? Okay. He's, you know, I can, he doesn't complain, he doesn't say anything. I can just tell the way he's moving, you know. So a lot of it was not him asking to come out. I just pulled him out here and there. You know, I think it was a hard matchup with LeBron. I tried to sub pretty early in the third quarter to get Patrick out there with just some more size. Alex is going to give everything he's got, but, you know, he's going to have to deal with this. I said, this will be an ongoing challenge for him the rest of the year and is, you know, he tries to fight through it as best he can, but I could just tell, you know, he wasn't. And again, this is my opinion that he was not, you know, feeling great and he was trying to work through it. You know, we got, I just, you know, I knew I just didn't like the way Alex looked personally, you know, the way he was moving around, I could just tell. And again, like I said, he didn't ask to come out of the game, it was my decision. And then, you know, I just thought Gervonta kind of got himself back, ready to play. It's tough for Gervonta to sit there that long, you throw him in at the end of the fourth quarter, but I was just looking for some kind of energy, spark, just something defensively rebounding. And he's really good at that. And we weren't shooting the ball great. Maybe he gets a couple of tips in, a couple of offensive rebounds, maybe something. But then after the way it was going, you know, it was probably a tough situation to put him into, quite honestly, waiting that long. But I was just trying to get something going off the bench, just from an energy standpoint. So he came out just because we're just trying to, again, I think when he came out, it was like maybe an 11-point game, or maybe it was a three-point play, we made a three, we cut it to 11. So it was in striking distance with three or four minutes to go. We just couldn't generate enough stops and enough scores. I just think it happens sometimes. You know, if you look at, I think the last time we played them in LA, we shot the ball really well. You know, I mean, we shot it incredibly well and really made a lot of timely shots. And I think I maybe said before the game, there were things that happened in that first game that kind of, you go back and watch the film, you know, I always think when you go back and watch the film after the game's like over with and you can kind of digest, there were some timely shots we made. Kobe made a runner off the backboard on a tough shot with the shot clock winding down. Patrick got caught in the lane, he like reverse pivoted and made a pull-up jump shot. Like all those plays were kind of going down. But you know, again, I think when you have a night like we had to be shooting the basketball, which happens, you know, can you not foul as much to a case, you say, can you rebound the ball? Can you do a better job taking care of it? Those things, I think, inevitably, even though we didn't shoot the ball well, it was those other things I thought add up that made it difficult for us to overcome, you know, offensively where we were at. No point in any rebounding issue on one player whatsoever, but when you look that you got beat on the boards, you cited that and Patrick Williams has one rebound in 24 minutes. Is there like a burden or responsibility on him to pick that up a little bit more? Yeah. I mean, it's really our team, you know. And, you know, to be honest with you, one of the things that happened and we showed it at halftime, we had far too many times in the first half with the way the game is played now and the spacing. When jump shots go up, generally those shots are not going to be rebounded in the lane. They either bounce outside the lane, around the block, or they come up to the high elbows. We had too many guys running underneath the free throw line and the only rebound we were going to come down with was one that went through the net. You got to be able to secure and kind of that lane line area with four people. And then obviously if you're dealing with Davis and he's got wedge position, you got to kind of come from behind and try to crack down and try to neutralize him. But there were times where Patrick was going to the basket and there were several times the ball went over his head and those could have been his rebounds. And it wasn't just Patrick, it was everybody, you know. And again, there were some missed blockouts around the basket, but I thought some of the long rebounds in the first half really hurt us. It seems like the trend since the All-Star break has been a lot of offensive rebounding from the other team. Is that kind of the analysis that you would give there or is it anything else? You know, I would say it comes from several different reasons. One is you could be playing against somebody that's just a really good rebound and you get inside position or we're weds. There's been times we've been small maybe and that could contribute to it, but I think a lot of it, to be honest with you, is when guys are on the perimeter, the discipline to be able to continually come back to the lane. You know, you got to come back to that lane line. And when you are on the lane line, you cannot run to the rim. Those balls are going over your head. You got to secure both boxes and both elbows. And when we don't do that, sometimes with our size, we get hurt. And we've been a pretty good defensive rebounding team, we've been a pretty good transition defensive team. Our transition defense, in my opinion, tonight wasn't great, but some of that was due to our offense and the turnovers. It makes it hard to get it back and transition and balance the floor. But we got to be better on those controllable things, you know. And again, I haven't seen the film and I'll go back, but that was just my initial response sitting there from the bench watching some of it. Life like tonight where the starters are struggling to kind of get things going offensively. Did you give any thought to starting Kobe White in the second half, especially with your recent comments about how he's becoming more of a two-way player, you're now losing maybe as much. Yeah, I mean, the only thing I thought about doing and I made the switch relatively quick was the only thing I thought at halftime was starting Patrick, you know, just to go with a bigger body against LeBron, just to start because, you know, like I said, AC is going to give everything he has, but he's probably not where he needed to be physically. And to be quite honest, I really liked the way that second unit played. You know, we took their first punch, got down by whatever it was, 12 or 15, and that group came flying back. So you're also looking at when you do do that starting it, part of the reason why we got back in the game was because of the second unit. They were really, really good. And the second unit was really good against the Lakers in LA. So when you start moving guys out of lineups, you just always get a little bit concerned of what does that do to the chemistry to a group that was playing really, really well. Yep. Thank you. Sure. Austin, just first of all, your thoughts on the starting lineup and things seem to click pretty quickly. Why did you think that was? I felt like we just play really good basketball out the gate, you know, when you have that much talent on the court, Bron, AD, D'Lo especially. And then you kind of fit me and Vando in there, hustle guys, play the right way. That's really what I thought we started the game off really the right way, just playing the right way and making the extra pass and, you know, just a lot of energy. We know you have a good relationship with Pat Bev for his time and, you know, he did the whole thing with LeBron just, you know, just take us, just take us through it. I mean, yeah, he, he, he did it last time we played LeBron. It wasn't something I thought about doing all game, but I felt like right time, you know, right situation. And like you said, me and Pat's got a good relationship. I respect him. It's just me competing. You mentioned the team effort of the starting unit, but I just wanted to know your thoughts on LeBron, just the second game back, it seemed like he had a big impact on your guys' performance tonight as a group. Yeah. I mean, it's LeBron James, really good basketball player anytime, you know, you can have him on your team or back with us, you know, first game, you know, a lot of stuff didn't go the way we wanted to. Energy wasn't there, but obviously he missed, I don't know how many weeks, a month with the foot, you know, so it's kind of hard to, you know, just jump back in and, you know, hit the ground running. But, you know, props to him, you know, he came out and gave us a lot of energy from the get go. And, you know, like I said, it's, it's always good having a player that good. Austin, what was the biggest difference with AD this game compared with last game? I mean, obviously we see the points, we see the field goal attempts, the free throws, but like, you know, Darvin said he felt like he was just more assertive and kind of set the tone early and you guys kind of fed off that. Yeah, for sure. Basically the same, you know, from the get go, you know, you could tell he was going to be very aggressive and, you know, to say the least was going to, you know, carry us 38 and 10, you know, made big top shots down the stretch, floaters, threes. So when you, you see, you know, one of your best players, you know, giving out that much energy in the first quarter, you really just give him the ball and get out of the way. And if he passes it, do something good, if not, let him go do what he does. Austin, you guys have talked about kind of the opportunity that that could be there for you, despite the slow starts and stuff, if it kind of all got right at the right time. Did it feel like this was close or as close as you guys have been to like your potential, especially at, you know, with that group at the start of the game, the kind of the way you guys are able to play today? Yeah, I mean, it's been, I don't know how long since, you know, the trade deadline or how many games, but it takes, it takes time. I mean, when you, you know, have, I think we will, we have five new guys, maybe six, whatever, you know, come to a team at the trade deadline. As much as you want it to click from day one, I mean, it's not going to be perfect. I mean, the unspoken or like untaught chemistry in game, like when you know, like when you play with someone so long, you know where they're going to be, what they like is real and it's a big thing. And I feel like, you know, we've done a really good job since the trade deadline, communicating in game, out of game, you know, what we like and what we like others like. But yeah, I felt like, you know, tonight energy was really well and obviously LeBron, AD, D'Lo, you know, did their thing. D'Lo will combine 14 for 20 from the field. What's it like playing with him in the backcourt and how effective were you guys tonight? Man, I love playing with him. He just plays the right way, makes the simple play, will, you know, go out of his way to ask you, you know, how you want to get involved in the game, like what play you want to run, just little things like that. And I feel like, you know, we've built a really good chemistry together, you know, on and off the court, golf together once, you know, just, you know, talking when we talk a lot about basketball, even in those times. So, you know, it's, it's fun because he is so talented, but at the same time, so unselfish that, you know, it just gives a good energy to everybody on team. Thank you. 25 points and 31 minutes for LeBron. He's speaking in the locker room. There were so many games and the only way I could get my work in was to get on the floor and go individuals. So my first live action in those four weeks was the game on Sunday. So that's it. What does this mean then, something that they have for you, I think, moving forward, because you look like your old self, even better than you did on Sunday. I'm just trusting the work that I've been putting in. I know I put in a lot of work. I know my body. There's only two people that know, probably there's only one other person that knows my body more than me, and that's Mike. So once I get the clearance from him and I feel confident in what I can do on the floor, then I just go out and just go and just play. LeBron, we got that look at the game out of the All-Star break with you and D'Lo in AD, small sample size, but looked really good. Tonight looked good again. Austin was in there. What do you like about that group and what's clicking? I think the number one thing is we have multiple ball handlers, so no one has to feel like they need to stress the hand on the ball from every possession. We got shot makers, that's our lineup, and we have a lot of length. Myself, Vando, obviously AR, and AD obviously at the rim. So D'Lo's actually pretty long as well, so it gives us a lot to do defensively as well. When Anthony's playing like that, how much room does it create out there on the court for the rest of the team? He always plays like that. You just gotta kick him in the ass every now and then, but he always plays like that, so I ain't never worried about him. But I guess in terms of when he's got going like that, the space he's able to create on the court for the rest of you guys? Well, he's one of the most dynamic players that we have in our league, and especially when he's shooting the ball like that, especially from the perimeter, he's able to knock down a 3-2 to kind of open up the space, then it just makes him even more unguardable and it just helps the rest of the team. And for us, as the supporting cast, we just try to do our part, try to find him early and often, late and often. We don't go from there. Brian, what did you like about the energy that those starters played with? I mean, first start together, but those first six minutes... We understood the assignment. We understand this is... Every road trip is huge, but because of our season, the way things have gone, this is the biggest road trip for us at this moment. They came into our building on Sunday and took advantage of us, and we wanted to try to get some get-back, and we were able to do that. Darvin mentioned that you're on a minutes restriction, but he extended that slightly just because of how you're playing and how you're feeling. I've been on minutes restrictions for like 10 years now. If you ask any of my coaches in the last 10 years, I've been on minutes restrictions for the last 10 years. Coaches have been putting me on minutes restrictions for 10 straight years. So I was going to ask, how long is that? The rest of the road trip, half the road trip? Do you have a timeline on that? Obviously, I want to continue to build up my stamina. Physically, I feel pretty good. I'm still getting a little of my quick twitch, my bounce back. That'll take a couple more games. I think by the end of the road trip, I should be pretty good. D'Lo and Austin were combined on the 14th and 20th of the field. Having them doing that from the backcourt, how much does that help the offense, help the team even more? We just keep everybody off balance. When you have that type of scoring in the starting lineup, D'Lo scoring threat, Austin scoring threat. Obviously, myself and A.D. scoring threat. Vandal had two threes, fours, but with his offensive rebounding ability. You can't, as a defense, just key in on one guy no more because of our ability that we have in that starting lineup. So when you have our starting backcourt goal for 14th and 20th and just very efficient, I think A.R. on this one shot, it was just a big time. One more just on that group. Yeah. The A.R. always got my back. Always. I forgive him. What is, have you had any thoughts on the McDonald's All-American game? Just too emotional. Super duper emotional. Watching my boy out there with the best players in the country. That was just a surreal moment. I just was thinking about my moment 20 years ago and being super proud to just be out there and represent my city, represent my family, and trying to put on a show. Now that I look back on it, I feel like it was set up for, there's been a lot of stuff that's been some funny things about my career. Now I look back on it, the fact that it was in Cleveland is a little weird to me now that I think about it. But I was super proud of Bronny, man. This ain't definitely not about me. It's about Bronny and what he was able to, he showed that he belonged. He showed that he could play with anybody in the country. And more importantly, he's just a great kid. He deserved every moment that he had yesterday. Our family's super proud of him. Thank you. Appreciate it. Of course, LeBron talking about his son, Bronny, and the McDonald's All-American game, the dunk contest, hit 5-3. It's a pretty cool moment for him. And a pretty cool moment for the Lakers to have him back in this lineup. AD, LeBron was just talking about the starting lineup, and clearly it worked pretty well. Sometimes NBA teams, you need a little bit of time to develop that kind of cohesion. But can basketball IQ, or the D-Lo and Austin F, can that fast-track some of that kind of thing? Yeah, for sure. I think everybody is selfless, you know, what kind of helps it. You know, obviously, like you say, when limited practice times, and LeBron just getting back, D-Lo getting back, I think the IQ level is so high that we're able to fast-track things and read the game, you know, and figure out stuff on the fly. So that's a good thing about having high IQ guys. You don't really need practice. We can just kind of talk about it and then just kind of execute it. You've obviously come back to your hometown a lot over your career, but do you still get excited coming back here and playing in this building, you know, given your career? Yeah. I mean, you get a chance to play in front of family and friends. We only get to come here once in my entire career, once a season. So I always look forward to coming back home. It's kind of one of the first games I look at when the schedule drops in the beginning of the year when I go back home. So, you know, it's always a great feeling coming back here, you know, especially getting a win. Obviously, having guys help you flip the switches the right turn, but do you feel like with this group, if you focus and execute, you have all the things to kind of do those tasks? Yeah. You know, we got scoring, we got shooting, we got playmaking, we got, you know, defensive guys. I think we got everything we need. It's just about, you know, going out and applying it. Sometimes we have lapses in the game. Sometimes we have lapses in the game that kind of, you know, bite us in the, you know, you know what. My bad, Dan. So I think if we come out and play the way we played tonight with a focus and a sense of urgency, knowing the position we're in, I think we'll be fine. You know, I think we clicked on all cylinders tonight, and if we continue to do that, we can definitely, you know, make a run, and I think we got all the right pieces, you know, from top to bottom. You guys have had like probably something like 80 different starting lineups in the last two years. This was another new one tonight. Didn't feel like it. What did you like about the balance with that group specifically? Like I said, all the guys are selfless, you know. We play for each other. We make the right plays. You know, obviously it's different. You know, Austin used to, you know, coming off the bench, and then he, you know, starts the last two games. You know, Bron comes off the bench, and obviously he was going to come back and start. You know, D-Lo comes back. So it's just, you know, I think it all goes down to just the IQ and us being selfless and playing, you know, for each other, knowing, you know, what our goal is, and I think that makes some things a lot easier. Having Austin and you combined, winning from the field, having a back-court in the back. Yeah, when him and D-Lo are playing like that, Austin and D-Lo, it opens up the floor, you know, for me and Bron. As you see, it was no more double teams. Bron able to get ISOs on the post. The pocket passes started getting a lot more clear. You know, guys making shots, so you got to stay home. So it's good when these guys are making shots and playing to the level that we know that they're capable of because it opens up so many avenues on the offensive end. Okay, but Austin doing the pat-and-bam. Yeah, he got Bron, so, you know, he got him back for Bron. But, yeah, man, it's all love, though. Thanks, AD. D-Lo, I guess, how did it feel to be back in the lineup and just kind of your overall thoughts on that new starting group? Oh, it was great, man, just to kind of be healthy and get back out there, get things rolling again. Obviously, you never want to sit out and miss games. So just to be back out there is a great feeling, for sure. D-Lo, you and, like, Micah can describe, Austin combined 14 to 20 from the field as the backcourt. What does that do for the team, and how good were you guys going? How was your rhythm between the two of you? I mean, like I said earlier, if you can dominate the game from a lot of different areas and have that versatility, I mean, I don't know if you can name anything. Austin Reeves can't really do on the offensive end. He dominates the game, and myself, I try to do the same. So when you got us next to those two guys out there, the game's just super simple. And we got off to a great start, and you can kind of get a taste of it. AD had an efficient 40 points. LeBron, many restrictions. It was just easy. Never felt like we were stressing. The offense never really felt like it was – it wasn't fluid. So I give the credit to the guys that were around. D'Angelo, it can take, you know, lineup set up and play together sometimes just time to find cohesion. Do you think basketball IQ, can that fast-track it? Just putting you and Austin out there, like with LeBron, and just the way that you guys seem to understand the game collectively? Yeah, simple as that. I mean, I love to dig in on that and respond with something hefty, but as simple as that. You got guys like that around, the game's super easy, and if you're not forcing it, it'll come to you eventually. They got to rotate. They got to adjust when they're dominating a game like that. And take advantage of it when it happens, and at some point it's going to happen throughout the game. And I think tonight that's what me and Austin did. Vanderbilt too. Don't forget about them. Yeah, so the starting lineup obviously worked pretty well. Closing lineup, are there certain times with the bench unit, like where you and LeBron and Austin all being out there, do you think that some stagger while still optimizing the time that you guys have together can benefit the group? How does that all play out? That's a coaching decision, honestly. Like I said, it's a good problem to have as a coach though, you know, when you have so many options and you can mix and match and have a feel for it. Like I said, that's not an answer for me to have. Just try to go out there and dominate my minutes. Simple as that. I apologize if you've already been asked this. I'll find it in the transcript. We just move on. But are you any concerned about the hip moving forward? And what's the origin of the injury there or the pain there? No pain. I just strained it. And so when you strain it, you know, it's a little inflamed and it's going to hurt right then and there. And then I had a few days to kind of get right. I feel great. Like I said, the people back there, they took really good care of me. So I try to give them a lot of credit for that one.