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shervonfakhimi · 4 years

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What I Learned From Attending Lakers-Thunder

When I was sitting on my family’s couch on the night of December 28th, 2019, I had no idea what awaited for me as my brother had been touting a gift that would knock my socks off, to put it lightly. Turns out, he was right, because he helped get me (and himself) tickets to see my beloved Los Angeles Lakers play the surging Oklahoma City Thunder on January 11th, 2020, my first live sporting event of the new decade. I was much more thrilled then than the afternoon of the game itself, where we both learned that LeBron James (my brother is quite the LeBron stan) would not play due to the flu on the second night of a back-to-back after another stunning performance against the Luka-led Dallas Mavericks. Learning that Anthony Davis and Danny Green would not play a few hours later seemingly set the stage for what looked to be a potential blowout of the Lakers, but we drove through slight elements anyway to one of the most shocking results of the season at essentially its midpoint, with the Lakers stunning the Thunder, on the road, on the second night of a back-to-back 125-110. It was a blast. Not only did we have a great time, but I learned a thing or two that I didn’t quite know for sure beforehand.

Forgot About Kuz

As Kyle Kuzma went to the free-throw line after getting fouled on a jump shot, the stadium ops at Chesapeake Energy Arena briefly played the ‘Forgot About Dre’ instrumental by Dr. Dre featuring Eminem, surely referencing Kuzma’s Slim Shady-esque blonde hair. Well, that only got him going as he went full renegade mode, dropping a season-high 36 points. What was most impressive was the variety of the buckets he served on the Thunder defense. Pick-and-pops, transition, put-backs, even being the primary ball-handler at times. He was electric and filled the gaping scoring hole LeBron and Davis left behind and showed exactly why either the Lakers shouldn’t trade him or did them a favor by boosting his trade value. I’ve always been in the camp of the former, for a myriad of reasons: 1) he’s still only on the third year of his rookie-scale contract with restricted free agency coming in the summer of 2020. Having young players in tow is key to sustain great teams and I believe he can be a part of those said teams. 2) Because he is on that contract it is hard for the Lakers to match salaries to bring back an impact player for him. 3) He has a skill-set the Lakers could very much use. Consistency has been an issue for Kuzma throughout his brief NBA career, but I’ve seen him have games like this and now just saw one live to reinforce my belief in him. The trade talk surely must be inescapable for him if even fans in the arena were chirping him about in the game. Who knows what will happen between now and the trade deadline. I understand Kuzma is not a perfect player and why he can be had in trade talks. But at least for one night, Kyle Kuzma showed his game, his worth and his potential as an impact player… for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Playoff Rondo Lives?

Rajon Rondo has not been all that great this season. Some nights, he’s been flat-out bad, a caricature compared to the mythical ‘Playoff Rondo’ figure who rears his head in April, May and sometimes June. Well, Saturday gave perhaps a sneak preview, as Rondo out-floor general-ed longtime buddy Chris Paul to the tune of a near triple-double with a 22 point, 12 rebound, 8 assist outing, repeatedly pushing the ball and setting his teammates up for success. He did most of his scoring damage in the first quarter but slowed down in that area in the second half (In the third quarter, he apparently injured his finger, which I didn’t know until after the game had ended. He also shot an airball on a three, which prompted the esteemed gentleman sitting to my right to proclaim ‘we know Rondo can’t shoot!’ as he proceeded to put a dip of tobacco in, which I guess is allowed in NBA arenas?). Scoring from the perimeter has been the glaring weakness of this Lakers team this season and Rondo has been the unofficial poster boy from fans, myself included (I repeatedly nudged my brother, asking him ‘where the hell has this been!’ when Rondo is pouring bucket after bucket early on. I still think the Lakers need another perimeter ball-handler capable of creating his own shot, though Quinn Cook stepped up big in that role as well alongside Kuzma and even Troy Daniels running off screens and hitting timely shots. Maybe Rondo is saving himself for the postseason, where the last two times he’s been a participant he was a major positive for the New Orleans Pelicans and Chicago Bulls. I don’t know. But the fact he let me and the world know he still has it and can change a game for the better was quite the welcome surprise.

The Lakers Defense Is Real and Is Spectacular

It was fascinating to watch the Lakers defend in real life. To hear the communication and watch them swarm from one defender to another, to help and make the proper rotations, etc. Anthony Davis is *the* major factor as to why the Lakers are dominant on that end, but they truly do defend on a string. Watching Jared Dudley as the backline of defense from the back of their basket recognize in an instant he had to protect the rim to alter the shot of a rampaging Hamidou Diallo was amazing. They were tremendous. Sure, Oklahoma City shot just 29% from three and missed shots they normally would make, but the Lakers did everything in their power to make those as difficult as possible. Saturday Night was the crowning jewel of the Frank Vogel Coach of the Year campaign.

Lakers Team Depth and Chemistry

The Lakers’ depth has been brought into question this year, but this performance should quell some of those concerns. Perhaps the Thunder took this game lightly after James, Davis and Green were ruled out, but the Lakers withstood a late Thunder push when they made it a 12 point game. The Lakers played 10 players and all of them made an impact. They can use another piece or two, but the Lakers have plenty of guys right now outside of the dynamic duo who can contribute. But outside of that, what really stood out was the team chemistry they have. Any time someone would do something the bench would get up. They played together as a team knowing they don’t have their two best, most dynamic players. LeBron even got up off the bench to whisper something to Alex Caruso during the game as if LeBron was a coach. Anthony Davis interviewed Rajon Rondo after the game for the local Los Angeles TV crew. They’re a legit team through and through, on and off the court.

Shai’s Got the Goods, Dude

I mean, two teams did in fact play, so I might as well talk about the other team. The Chris Paul / Danilo Gallinari two-man game was able to put the Lakers’ defense in compromising positions, but the biggest thing to me was how easy Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was able to score. He’s one of those guys who can just glide to wherever he wants to go and score at any level. That is especially impressive to me considering I believe his playmaking is at the very least on the same level and perhaps better than his scoring ability. He is going to be very good for a very long time.

(By the way, I typed this *BEFORE* Shai delivered a 20-20-10 performance in his next game)

A Brief Soliloquy on Load Management

When fans and analysts would go after players and teams for their load management tactics, I would normally just shake my head in disgust because they would not put the players’ health in front of their own self-interests. And then… LeBron James and Anthony Davis didn’t play in a game I went to in very large part to see them do their thing. Load management is real, y’all. After this game, the only time this regular season the Lakers will play in an area close to where I live in Fayetteville, Arkansas is in Memphis on February 29th. I don’t mind and very much understand why they did, in fact, sit out: Anthony Davis hurt his butt (of course he did) defending a Julius Randle shot at the rim and LeBron conveniently caught the flu the night before when he played the Mavericks. To say our mood was shot getting the news neither would play was an understatement. I even offered to just stay at home and not risk travel through some snow that came down the night before in the Arkansas/Oklahoma area. I still very much wanted to go because the Lakers are the team that I’ve rooted for my entire life but I felt especially bad for my brother, the two little kids I met at the end of the game who also traveled from Fayetteville and the numerous others in attendance who wanted to see LeBron and Davis play. It sucks, but that’s just the way it is. Teams don’t have us fans in mind when gauging whether their players should play on a back-to-back in January; they have their players’ health and championship quest as their priority and rightfully so. I don’t know what the solution is. At least we knew LeBron was not playing before we left and pretty much knew Davis would follow suit. You have to figure if the NBA were to lower the amount of regular-season games and carry on with their sort of ridiculous in-season tournament that no one seems to want that there still would be *some* back-to-back games. My brother didn’t know that two weeks after he bought the tickets that Anthony Davis would injure his butt and LeBron would get sick essentially the night before we wanted to see him. I really wanted to see them play, but even just seeing them, in general, conversing with teammates was really cool to see. Even going made my night, personally (especially since it had been over half a decade since I had gone to an NBA game live), but I don’t know if I can say the same for everyone else. The fact that the Lakers won *without them* made that night even more special for me. It was a blast and was a night I don’t think I’ll ever forget. Go Lakers!

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