The Lakers were just as good the next season. LeBron and AD just got hurt.
RyanTannegod
Didn’t Lebron approve of the decisions? AD got hurt that year anyway
Confident_Pen_919
We had a good thing, you stupid son of a bitch. We had KCP. We had a Alex Caruso. We had everything we needed, and it all ran like clockwork. You could’ve shut your mouth, cooked and made as much money as you ever needed. It was perfect. But, no, you just had to blow it up. You and your pride and your ego! You just had to be the man. If you’d done your job, known your place, we’d all be fine right now.
SHashbrowns1
The consensus following the 2020 off-season was that the team got better. They could’ve kept the 2020 title team and still lost in 2021 because AD and LeBron both got hurt. Breaking the team up to trade for Russ was the real nail in the coffin
JawnWick003
Pelinka doesn’t make those moves without the go-ahead from Bron/AD.
Letting Caruso walk, trading KCP and Kuz who were good starters, etc. They weren’t some minor roleplayers. Those types of moves aren’t made without the say-so from the stars.
Top-boy-og
This was a great podcast, earlier in the pod Dwight and Boogie were talking about how the chemistry and vibes of the 2020 Lakers were super high and how all the guys would hang out after every game and practice. They both said that the vibes on that Lakers team were completely different to any other team they had ever played on
xyzyxzy
He just mad they didn’t bring him back.
The Lakers didn’t bring back two players from their top 8 from the Bubble. Green because they traded him for Schroder, and Rondo because they couldn’t match ATL’s offer. Both those were understandable moves at the time.
Wavepops
watching dwight howard podcast is fascinating bc you see how he views himself as always right and people just always hating on him and it being narratives against him. Sometimes he is right, like not being put on the top 75 of all time list, but other times you can see how delusional he is. If I was a coach i wouldnt bring him back at this point cuz hes not a guy who will play his role and be happy about it. hes still like play me “25 mins off the bench so i can average a double double, lemme get my post ups too”. its fun to listen to his podcast
Adventurous_Dot_1338
Some feuds never truly fade away.
shinji_ikari_kun
The 2020-2021 team was great until injuries derailed the season. They were 22-7 at one point until the short break from the bubble Finals caught up to them.
I think the same would’ve happened if the team remained intact. That short rest in between the COVID era seasons was brutal for a lot of teams.
easymoney_kd
None of the other teams in last few years have been able to repeat, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The reason the team was broken is because they did not think the team was good enough and wanted a change, no one in the league was eager to trade for Westbrook.
By no means defining Pelinka and he should not even be a GM imo, but let’s not act like front office is the only thing preventing Lakers from another title.
VanGrants
it is crazy Rob upgraded the roster and then because of a couple untimely injuries, dismantled it.
Crafty-Log3177
Y’all think Dwight was feeling freaky in this video???
redditnathaniel
Podcasts: Certified medium for NBA old heads to stay relevant
_Jetto_
Lebron wanted Russ. Fuck all these dumb ass motherruckers who scapegoat that
Wormholio
I always forget Dwight Howard finally won a ring on that team
TripleB123
That made him so mad he went off and got a lil nasty
incredibleamadeuscho
They could have had the 2021 team and kept Dwight instead of ending up with Andre Drummond in the Dwight role.
Makoto-ito
Dwight was washed after this season anyway rob made the right move moving on from him
Emotional-Chef-7601
Jeanie Bus also got rid of Dudley. So it wasn’t just Rob.
According-Refuse-341
absolute numbskull take
No_Roof_1910
Dwight is a dummy!
It was LeBron who broke that team up.
There is no way, NONE, that any of that happens without LeBron signing off on it and EVERYONE (except Dwight the dummy) knows that.
TheAngelSatan
Dwight Howard criticizing anyone is some bullshit
Affectionate_Duty286
That was wild to break that team up after a ship I never understood that
motorboat_mcgee
The only major mistake the Lakers made were going after Westbrook imo.
Everything else since then has made sense at some level, even if everything hasn’t worked out 100%. But that’s a very normal thing.
* 19-20 – Championship * 20-21 – Contention until injuries * 21-22 – LeBron and AD pressure the team to get Westbrook * 22-23 – Hire a “players coach” to manage Westbrook, that doesn’t work, trade Westbrook for what we can get – get back to the WCF * 23-24 – Lakers probably would have matched up better against anyone not named the Nuggets * 24-25 – This is where I get a little annoyed. Hiring LeBron’s podcast buddy and drafting his kid, just to keep him happy. I hope to god JJ is a better coach than Ham, because there is some talent on the team, but damn if I didn’t want a coach with experience.
Green for Schroeder in 2020 was a great trade. We needed an additional ball handler, and Green was basically washed by the end of the bubble. Gasol provided roughly what Dwight did in being a physical body, but with the additional ability to pass and shoot. Trez was much needed point production off the bench. We were doing what we could to get through the regular season after the 3 week or whatever offseason. Injuries still caught the team by the playoffs, as they did every other bubble quarterfinalist.
People will complain about THT/Caruso, and sure I get it… but I think a lot of folks don’t remember that THT had shown flashes of potential to be the back up ball handler, and when you have a 19 or 20 year old that has that, you bet on it, even if it doesn’t work out, you can trade the contract. Caruso was largely expendable and a tax casualty, because he wouldn’t have had much use next to Westbook, the Lakers needed shooters after that point.
6 different teams have won the championship over the last 6 years. There’s more parity and talent across the league than there has ever been before. The aggressive luxury tax rules will make things even more competitive imo, the only team really situated to be a multi year champion is the Celtics, and that could fall apart with a single injury.
This idea that the Lakers have mismanaged things kind of gets annoying, because often times there’s a complete discarding of context and nuance in the discussion. The Westbrook really hosed things up there for a season, but the other 4 seasons, imo have been fine if not for injuries and bad matchup luck.
25 Comments
The Lakers were just as good the next season. LeBron and AD just got hurt.
Didn’t Lebron approve of the decisions? AD got hurt that year anyway
We had a good thing, you stupid son of a bitch. We had KCP. We had a Alex Caruso. We had everything we needed, and it all ran like clockwork. You could’ve shut your mouth, cooked and made as much money as you ever needed. It was perfect. But, no, you just had to blow it up. You and your pride and your ego! You just had to be the man. If you’d done your job, known your place, we’d all be fine right now.
The consensus following the 2020 off-season was that the team got better. They could’ve kept the 2020 title team and still lost in 2021 because AD and LeBron both got hurt. Breaking the team up to trade for Russ was the real nail in the coffin
Pelinka doesn’t make those moves without the go-ahead from Bron/AD.
Letting Caruso walk, trading KCP and Kuz who were good starters, etc. They weren’t some minor roleplayers. Those types of moves aren’t made without the say-so from the stars.
This was a great podcast, earlier in the pod Dwight and Boogie were talking about how the chemistry and vibes of the 2020 Lakers were super high and how all the guys would hang out after every game and practice. They both said that the vibes on that Lakers team were completely different to any other team they had ever played on
He just mad they didn’t bring him back.
The Lakers didn’t bring back two players from their top 8 from the Bubble. Green because they traded him for Schroder, and Rondo because they couldn’t match ATL’s offer. Both those were understandable moves at the time.
watching dwight howard podcast is fascinating bc you see how he views himself as always right and people just always hating on him and it being narratives against him. Sometimes he is right, like not being put on the top 75 of all time list, but other times you can see how delusional he is. If I was a coach i wouldnt bring him back at this point cuz hes not a guy who will play his role and be happy about it. hes still like play me “25 mins off the bench so i can average a double double, lemme get my post ups too”. its fun to listen to his podcast
Some feuds never truly fade away.
The 2020-2021 team was great until injuries derailed the season. They were 22-7 at one point until the short break from the bubble Finals caught up to them.
I think the same would’ve happened if the team remained intact. That short rest in between the COVID era seasons was brutal for a lot of teams.
None of the other teams in last few years have been able to repeat, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The reason the team was broken is because they did not think the team was good enough and wanted a change, no one in the league was eager to trade for Westbrook.
By no means defining Pelinka and he should not even be a GM imo, but let’s not act like front office is the only thing preventing Lakers from another title.
it is crazy Rob upgraded the roster and then because of a couple untimely injuries, dismantled it.
Y’all think Dwight was feeling freaky in this video???
Podcasts: Certified medium for NBA old heads to stay relevant
Lebron wanted Russ. Fuck all these dumb ass motherruckers who scapegoat that
I always forget Dwight Howard finally won a ring on that team
That made him so mad he went off and got a lil nasty
They could have had the 2021 team and kept Dwight instead of ending up with Andre Drummond in the Dwight role.
Dwight was washed after this season anyway rob made the right move moving on from him
Jeanie Bus also got rid of Dudley. So it wasn’t just Rob.
absolute numbskull take
Dwight is a dummy!
It was LeBron who broke that team up.
There is no way, NONE, that any of that happens without LeBron signing off on it and EVERYONE (except Dwight the dummy) knows that.
Dwight Howard criticizing anyone is some bullshit
That was wild to break that team up after a ship I never understood that
The only major mistake the Lakers made were going after Westbrook imo.
Everything else since then has made sense at some level, even if everything hasn’t worked out 100%. But that’s a very normal thing.
* 19-20 – Championship
* 20-21 – Contention until injuries
* 21-22 – LeBron and AD pressure the team to get Westbrook
* 22-23 – Hire a “players coach” to manage Westbrook, that doesn’t work, trade Westbrook for what we can get – get back to the WCF
* 23-24 – Lakers probably would have matched up better against anyone not named the Nuggets
* 24-25 – This is where I get a little annoyed. Hiring LeBron’s podcast buddy and drafting his kid, just to keep him happy. I hope to god JJ is a better coach than Ham, because there is some talent on the team, but damn if I didn’t want a coach with experience.
Green for Schroeder in 2020 was a great trade. We needed an additional ball handler, and Green was basically washed by the end of the bubble. Gasol provided roughly what Dwight did in being a physical body, but with the additional ability to pass and shoot. Trez was much needed point production off the bench. We were doing what we could to get through the regular season after the 3 week or whatever offseason. Injuries still caught the team by the playoffs, as they did every other bubble quarterfinalist.
People will complain about THT/Caruso, and sure I get it… but I think a lot of folks don’t remember that THT had shown flashes of potential to be the back up ball handler, and when you have a 19 or 20 year old that has that, you bet on it, even if it doesn’t work out, you can trade the contract. Caruso was largely expendable and a tax casualty, because he wouldn’t have had much use next to Westbook, the Lakers needed shooters after that point.
6 different teams have won the championship over the last 6 years. There’s more parity and talent across the league than there has ever been before. The aggressive luxury tax rules will make things even more competitive imo, the only team really situated to be a multi year champion is the Celtics, and that could fall apart with a single injury.
This idea that the Lakers have mismanaged things kind of gets annoying, because often times there’s a complete discarding of context and nuance in the discussion. The Westbrook really hosed things up there for a season, but the other 4 seasons, imo have been fine if not for injuries and bad matchup luck.