After an emotional and action-packed week both on and off the court, the Lakers sent the Trail Blazers packing in the rescheduled Game 5 matchup on Saturday night, which was originally supposed for Wednesday, inside the Orlando Bubble.
Despite the mounting list of recent accolades, the Lakers have had a glaring problem on offense. Los Angeles has shot poorly from both the field and from distance with an inability to seemingly get into any type of offensive rhythm. In fact, the team has shot 40.1 percent from the field and a mere 23.3 percent from deep.
With LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma and Dwight Howard all held out of the Lakers’ third and final scrimmage against the Washington Wizards on Monday afternoon, Lakers’ head coach, Frank Vogel opted to give rotation players, newly added team members and the Lakers’ spirited young core extended minutes.
Moments after Lakers’ guard Dion Waiters checked in to the team’s first game in nearly four months, a scrimmage against the Dallas Mavericks, he faded away and sunk a jump shot as the Lakers’ bench shouted “Cheeseeeee,” referencing Waiters’ nickname “Philly Cheese.”
On the first night of the Los Angeles Lakers’ arrival to the NBA bubble in Orlando, FL, newly signed J.R. Smith took to Instagram Live to give his followers a behind-the-scenes look into what players were experiencing. He lightheartedly criticized everything from his view of the parking lot to the size of the blanket the NBA provided pointing out that it was too small for most NBA players who are well above average height. He questioned how players were expected to stay healthy with the bags of candy that were placed as snacks in each players’ room. He went on to show his teammates in the hallway simultaneously grabbing their first meal and ran through the dinner menu. Before long, Smith shared with his captive audience that he was instructed to shut it down.
Lakers guard Dion Waiters announced on Friday’s Zoom call with reporters that he will dawn Black Lives Matter on the back of his jersey for the restart of the NBA season in Orlando.
The Lakers general manager and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka joined a conference call on Tuesday with reporters to discuss the team’s plan as they look ahead to the NBA resuming in Orlando on July 30. He explained that the Lakers would replace Avery Bradley who opted out of joining the team for personal reasons.
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Dion Waiters, it was announced today by Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.