- 13 minutes ago
Lakers beat reporter Khobi Price joins Alex Curry and Brock Vereen on 97.1 The Fan LA to break down the Lakers’ 8-game start. From Luka Dončić playing video game basketball to Jake LaRavia's seamless fit in the frontcourt and Walker Kessler’s defensive tests against elite bigs, Khobi explains why this locker room already believes they’re built for an NBA Finals run.
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00:00of LA Sports. I'm Alex Curry here with former NFL DB Brock Vereen. Thank you for spending your
00:05midday in LA with us. Whether you've been tuning in on the radio, the Odyssey app, or watching us
00:09live on YouTube, we appreciate you being here. We are so excited to bring in our next guest of the
00:14day, Lakers reporter for the California Post, our boy, Kobe Price, joining the show.
00:19Oh, Kobe, Kobe. Good to have you here. And what a start for the Lakers. Luka off to a historic
00:33start to his season as the new face of this Lakers franchise with 40 plus points in four
00:39of his last five games. What has made Luka so dominant out of the gates?
00:45I mean, the fact that he scored 40 plus points in all his last five or four of his last
00:51five
00:51games, it's like video games. It's like, you know, you fire up 2K, you're playing against
00:56your little brother, and you know, they're not really that good. They're not as good as
01:00you. So you just do anything that comes to mind. You start taking fadeaways. You start
01:05taking step backs. You just do anything. It's all green. It's all green beans. Like everything
01:09just falling. That's literally what Luka Doncic looks like right now playing for the Lakers.
01:14On the court is just everything. I think I forget who it was last night. I think it
01:17may be Quentin Grimes, you know, Quentin Grimes, former two teammate of Lucas in Dallas, opponent
01:22in a variety of places. And he just said, you know, I think it was Quentin mentioned, like,
01:26it feels like every time Luka shoots, it's going in. And that's very much describes how
01:32it feels. Every time Luka shoots the ball, I'm just sitting at me to see like, this is
01:35unbelievable. Like, come on, man. How are you going to take this shot? And then it goes in
01:39is like, well, if you're going to, if you're going to take that shot, you got to make
01:42it. And then he's been making them a lot more than missing. That's for sure. At least
01:45lately, we knew that JJ wanted to build a pick and roll offense with Luka and Reeves around
01:51Walker Kessler through almost two weeks of Laker basketball. How would you say they are
01:56functioning?
01:58Yeah, they're functioning well. They found some sort of rhythm, you know, even last night,
02:03you know, it wasn't a whole lot, you know, Luka walk, pick and roll, like, but they're
02:07finding the chemistry just in terms of, you know, if it's not Luka walk, pick and roll,
02:11Luka's still going to find him, you know, diving toward the rim, cutting toward the rim.
02:16There's just a certain rhythm and cadence that comes with playing alongside Luka. And it
02:19feels like Walker, you know, game by game, week by week has a better understanding of
02:24it. And the tasks are simple. I think this also helps. It's not like they're asking them
02:27to reinvent a wheel or to do things neither one has done. It's Luka be Luka, Walker be a
02:35threat at the rim. Like, it's very simple. And like, that can look different. The nuances can
02:39look different each game, especially with how teams are defending Luka and Austin specifically,
02:44all the trapping and blitzing and just all this pressure. It's a whole lot of pressure,
02:48right? But Walker has been able to relieve that pressure for them, whether it's at the
02:51rim playmaking, like it's, it's, you, we're starting to see that chemistry develop and
02:56it's going to be, you know, what is it? November 3rd, like where we're going to be December
03:003rd, January 3rd, March 3rd onward. Like it could be a really, really special, you know,
03:06tandem. It's crazy, Kobe, because if you're just watching the game, watching a Lakers game,
03:12you're only eight games in. And if you didn't know this was the first season that this group
03:19had been playing together, you would think from what you've seen, like, oh, they played
03:22together for years. So that chemistry is there. And we heard JJ kind of talk about it during
03:28the preseason. But what have you been hearing from like Luka and Austin, who are the leaders
03:33of this group and knew that they were going to have to bring this group together as to
03:38why it's working so well so soon?
03:43Yeah, I think a lot of them, they'll mention the Slovenia trip back in late August, where
03:47that was a part where they're able to just get some really from camaraderie and get to
03:51know each other, less as basketball players, but just as people, right? And that's so much
03:56a part of what goes into being successful NBA team. JJ's mentioned this too, you know, the
04:02most, the best teams are the most connected teams. And I think that period, you know,
04:05those four or five days in Slovenia allowed them to become a connected team before they
04:09even got to training camp, before they were even, you know, surrounded by all the coaches
04:12and the medical and all the, you know, the day-to-day task of being an NBA player. Like
04:17that trip did a lot in terms of getting to know each other as people. So that establishes
04:21a care factor, right? Like you understand all these, you know, we're all in the same boat
04:25together. They're going to be hiccups. Again, this is game eight. You know, they're about to play
04:29in Sacramento tomorrow, game nine, still very early. But if you establish that care
04:33factor, it makes the day-to-day easier. It makes the, oh, you didn't take this shot.
04:37That was open. What's going on? It makes that conversation a little bit easier.
04:40It also helps that like some of these guys in locker room are just like pleasant, if
04:44that makes sense. Like the very like underrated part of going to, I mean, any job is just
04:49having pleasant personalities to be around. That's not a shot or anything. Anyone else
04:53has come through locker room before, but to that, it does just make everything easier where,
04:58you know, if you have people that you enjoy working with being around, it's easier to,
05:02you know, whether it's day-to-day job or being an NBA player and trying to figure out how to
05:06beat the Miami East, Sacramento Kings, whoever, it just makes that a little bit easier from
05:09a task management or problem solving standpoint.
05:13Zaire Williams was back in action off of the bench last night, but starting in his place
05:18over the better part of, of the past two weeks now has been Jake LaRavia, who's been
05:23kind of in a role that I don't think he expected to be playing, but JJ trusts him
05:29in said role. What can you make of Jake LaRavia learning how to play for more and
05:34more each day?
05:36Yeah. I mean, Jake's the, the other thing about Jake and even JJ's mentioned is that
05:40he's used to playing alongside Luca and Austin, right? Like he, you know, full season
05:44playing alongside those two last year. So there's just, uh, I think JJ likes to use the word or the
05:49for his intrinsic knowledge. Like Jake has that, you know, we're talking about chemistry
05:52and guys catching up. So like how do you play alongside Luca, Austin, all these different
05:56factors. Jake has that. So Jake knows, like Jake knows what the coaches have the specs
06:01from. Jake knows how to play alongside the two main stars. He has his own skillset in
06:06terms of, you know, offensive rebounding, no good defense. Like he just brings a lot to
06:10the table on and off the court that he's almost like a, you know, you know, he can fill
06:15into a starting role and you're just like blink. And next thing you know, that starting
06:18unit is like crushing it, like just absolutely crushing it. So that's like
06:22the value of Jake. He can just add to your team. And as long as he's staying
06:25aggressive offensively, the shot all, you know, over here in these days is
06:29looking good. Like as long as he has that, then like, you're going to be in a
06:32good place with him in the starting lineup. Now, the first few games, the
06:36defense was a point of concern for this Lakers team. And after a couple off
06:42games, it seemed to turn it around. What was the biggest adjustment you've
06:46seen this group make? I still think it's a little bit of a point of
06:50concern, just their pleading points pretty well. I mean, even like, especially
06:55in the first half, like there was a JJ mission up and down. It was like a
06:58track meet, right? Like the Lakers would score and I would look down and be like,
07:01all right, take a note. And next thing I know, Clay Thompson is like, wait, what?
07:04I just saw this team score a basket. How are they allowing a basket on the other end
07:08within the time it takes me to look down, type, and then look back up. So some of it's
07:14also just knowing personnel, knowing the other, knowing opponents, their trends
07:19and what they're wanting to do. I think we've seen good halves of defense or
07:23good cores of defense from the Lakers. I'm trying to think, I don't know if we've
07:28had like a full on, like great defensive game, even against the Clippers. That
07:32would have been like the last week when they, Luca wasn't available. I think a
07:36lot of that was also just like the Clippers not having like enough good NBA
07:40players on the floor all at the same time, but I will give the Lakers credit
07:44where it's due. I think one of the main things for the Lakers is they're just
07:47super disruptive. They're super disruptive. They're, you know, you mentioned Zaire,
07:52you mentioned Jake, you mentioned Matisse, Quentin, like they're super disruptive,
07:55super long, athletic. You have Malcolm Kessler at the rim who can kind of, you know,
08:01man the paint and that allows for their perimeter finish just be, you know, get
08:05deflections, get steals, forced turnovers, all of these things. So I think in the
08:09moments where we see the better part of Lakers defense, those are the things
08:12that are really popping off the court or popping off the floor.
08:16Speaking of Walker Kessler, who you mentioned just a moment ago, what I love
08:20looking at the schedule so far is the amount of different body types he's had
08:24to play against the physicality of Draymond, the length and athleticism of the
08:28guys in Utah, the physicality and length of the Miami duo last night. Upcoming, we
08:33have DeMonte Sabonis on Wednesday, Jalen Duren on Sunday. What questions remain for,
08:38for, for Walker Kessler for you?
08:41Yeah. I mean, part of it is also, how is he going to look against more formidable
08:45front court opponents? Uh, Jalen, the Jalen Duren, uh, I think he's, is he, I could
08:51be, uh, wrong. I'm not sure if he's, was he returned yet? If he is, um, you know, if
08:57he's, is available for that game, like that would be a humongous matchup, especially when
09:01you factor in, uh, you know, how both of the free agency wins. But for, for Walker, this
09:07is going to be about like, how do you test against like some of the more premier big
09:10men in the league? I mean, we saw, you know, he played against Bam and Giannis last night.
09:14Um, you know, but outside of that is, that hasn't been the greatest. I mean, Draymond's
09:18just a unique NBA player, but it'll be interesting. Like we talk about like the Sabonis, the Jokic,
09:26the MBs, like those like bigger, you know, stockier big men, how does it look on both
09:30ends of the floor? Because that's, that's really what you see. That's why you're paying
09:33Walker Kessler 130 million over four years. It's not just to be a pick and roll, uh,
09:38partner with, uh, with Luca and Austin or, you know, being one of the top rim protectors
09:44in the league, which he has been that, but it's also like, you have to be able to hold
09:47your own against some of the top of the top big men in the league as well. So it'll be
09:51a
09:51good test. It'll be a good test like that. That's the one, you know, again, eight
09:55games, but we still got, we still got a minute to go, but up through this, up through this
10:00point, I think Walker's held his own and the boys that he needs to. So yeah, only eight
10:04games, Kobe, but the Lakers are playing like a top team in the league. Luca Doncic is playing
10:09like an MVP in this league. So with what we've seen, does this group believe that they can
10:17be a championship team? They do. They do. I mean, they, that's their goal. That's, they
10:23said it's from day one. I think some people, you know, laugh at JJ or maybe it was like,
10:28Oh, you don't really believe that when he said that there, you know, he believes they
10:30could be a championship level team. But I mean, especially when you look around the
10:34league, you know, obviously the thunder have the injuries they have, you know, the Spurs
10:37got off to a rough start. They're bouncing back. But again, you, the NBA shows itself
10:43every single year, anything can happen, right? Like if you, we had this conversation this
10:48time last year, who would have said that the Knicks would have beat the Spurs in the
10:50NBA Finals. Like that may not have been the prediction that most people had.
10:54Right. So I put it on, I put it in writing in October. I had the Lakers going to the
10:59Western Conference Finals. I'm not going to move off of that prediction until I'm
11:02proven otherwise. So, I mean, yeah, it could be a championship, like whether they get
11:07to the finals, win the finals, like that's where obviously we're going to be seen.
11:10But this is a team that can compete, at least to me, or you should be able to compete
11:13with the best of the West, especially how it currently stands. So they believe,
11:17they believe. We believe Kobe. We appreciate you. I love hearing that from you. And I'm
11:22sure LA loves hearing all of that as well. Thank you so much for your time. We love having
11:27you on. Thanks Kobe. Appreciate y'all. See ya. I love the cheers. Good job with the cheers
11:36in and out. Yeah, it's exciting you guys. Yes, it's only eight games in, but, but they are
11:44playing top tier basketball. Luca is playing like an MVP. Oh, it's allow yourself to be
11:53excited. It's fun. I am considering we had no idea what to expect this season. Right.