The Lakers had a busy week, and lost two of the three games they played. So why do we declare it a success? And what exactly does success look like on the upcoming road trip? We explain. Because while LeBron and Anthony Davis are still out, Andre Drummond is nursing his nail-less big toe and so on, success is a relative term, with a very specific m…

The Lakers played, and won, two games this weekend, one against a conventionally bad team (Cleveland), and the other against a catastrophically awful group (Orlando). Even shorthanded, they might not seem like much, but it can be argued these were the most important wins of the season. Without LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the lineup, the team …

The news is big, and it ain't good. Saturday against the Hawks, LeBron James suffered a very nasty looking high ankle sprain, and has been declared "out indefinitely" by the Lakers. Whether that means seven, 10, 15 or more games remains to be seen, but with only 29 remaining following Sunday's loss to the Suns in Phoenix, the Lakers don't have much…

The Lakers announced this week that Anthony Davis is healing, but it'll be at least two more weeks until he's cleared to play. At the least, Davis won't see game action before the end of March, and more likely it'll be a week or two into April. So what does that mean for Davis? For the Lakers? We break it down in the newest edition of the Land O'La…

They're the hosts of a new hoops pod, and one well worth finding in a crowded basketball podcast space. They're Jordan Ligons and Haley O'Shaughnessy, of the Spinsters. We welcome them on, talking... -How Jordan's great aunt went from a Lakers fan to a Celtics fan... in the 80's! Like, really, how does that happen? -Jordan is a die hard Lakers fan,…

Michael Lee of the Washington Post is one of the best sportswriters in the business. He joins the Happy Hour (after Andy and Brian spend some time on LeBron James, the Brooklyn Nets and Meyers Leonard) and goes deep down memory lane for some great stories around his childhood fandom, what came later with supporting Eddie Jones, sharing a great stor…

It's among the most unique podcasts out there. Lour After Hours, a gathering of huge Dan LeBatard Show fans, has grown organically into a huge community of podcasters and guests, with all kinds of interesting characters. So how did this all happen? What brought the crew together, and how has it grown into something with this big a life? That's wher…

One of the things making LA special is its extensive mural culture. Across every neighborhood in the city, people can find a variety of public art chronicling the LA's history, culture, citizenry and more. Robert Vargas is a big part of that, responsible for a diverse group of murals across Los Angeles. We start on his upbringing in Boyle Heights, …

So what's it like to be permanently banned from Twitter? How do you get yourself back on? And what does a person have to do to get kicked off in the first place? Comedian Mike Mulloy of FadedComedy.com joins, and that's where we start. Good news, it wasn't for leading an insurrection! After, we talk about the challenge of comedy in the pandemic, wh…

He's the big cheese over at Silver Screen and Roll, and one of our favorite people out in the NBA universe. Harrison Faigen of SilverScreenandRoll.com joins the show to review what we've seen to this point in the Lakers season, and preview what's to come. Plus... we dive into some of the more controversial aspects of the All Star Weekend! No shorta…

Steve Mason has been a mainstay of LA radio for multiple decades. We've known him for almost two... and on Friday's Late Night Happy Hour learned all kinds of new stuff about the guy. We start on vaccinations. He got one, hanging out at the local Rite-Aid. Turns out, they had some spares. So what's he going to do with his newfound freedom, once he …

He's all sorts of busy, doing NBA coverage for The Athletic, hosting shows (Like BOMM) for the Count the Dings Network, and a regular job at Wieden/Kennedy. Tavonne Edwards joins the Happy Hour. After breaking down his extremely judgmental mattress, we stumble into a Knicks conversation. They're as good as they've been in years, but does that actua…

If you frequent The Ringer, you know his work, either written for their NBA and MLB departments or as part of the production team on the popular "Binge Mode" podcast Zach Kram joins the Late Night Happy Hour, and we start with the NBA game of the night, with Utah and Philly, two teams vying for seeding and respect. Philly wins, behind a monster gam…

Anthony Slater, who covers the Warriors and the NBA for The Athletic, joins to talk Western Conference contenders, refereeing, the state of Golden State and more. We start by maybe, just maybe, encouraging Lakers fans to slow their roll on Damian Jones. He's looked good in his first two games in purple and gold - hasn't missed a shot! - but there's…

He's the host of Food Network's "Spring Baking Championships," and five seasons of "Cheap Eats" on Discovery+. He's been featured on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate," and more. He joins the Late Night Happy Hour. -We start on the mechanics of shooting food TV shows in the midst of a pandemic. What changes? How much does he actually get to each? Does Duf…

As the Lakers endured a four-game losing streak, we said on this show the losses, while frustrating, revealed little about the makeup of the team, short of the obvious: When the Lakers don't have Anthony Davis and Dennis Schröder, they're too short on talent to win a lot of games. Particularly on the offensive end. If the losing continues after the…

Friend of the show Dave Schilling, who writes about sports, culture and style joins, talking about his work on "Black Renaissance: The Art and Soul of Our Stories," which premiered on YouTube, Friday. What makes the celebration of the arts and Black culture so critical? He talks about the genesis of the idea, and what it was like working with so ma…

Spring Training kind of snuck up on us, but now that we know it's here, we have questions. And to answer them, we hit up Jorge Castillo, who does outstanding work covering the Dodgers for the LA Times. We start with atmosphere. It's no a normal Spring Training, whether talking about the players or the media covering them. What's the atmosphere like…

The Jazz thumped the Lakers on Wednesday. No big surprise given the current state of the champs, who are still down Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroder. And also because the Jazz are routinely kicking the crap out of any team they play. So at this point, with the best record in the league by a pretty good margin, with a run of dominance few teams hav…

He's a die hard fan, so on a personal level the struggles of the Boston Celtics this season are hitting NY Times NBA writer Sopan Deb particularly hard. But they have a simple explanation, at the root: The C's let an All-Star caliber player in Gordon Hayward go to Charlotte, and replaced him with... nothing. So add in a banged up Kemba Walker and a…

It's not always easy to be a sports fan today, especially if you're a member of a community that hasn't traditionally been valued by the sports establishment - think women and LGBTQ people, for example - or simply enthusiastic fans whose team loyalties are exploited by greedy/apathetic/lousy team owners or large entities like the IOC and FIFA that …

That the Lakers are slumping without Anthony Davis (calf strain) and Dennis Schröder (health and safety protocols) in the lineup isn't exactly a surprise. Most teams would suffer without an all-world guy like Davis, and the type of dynamic scorer that Schröder is, particularly when nobody left on the roster not named LeBron James can serve as that …

You know him from 710 ESPN Radio in LA, and basically every television show ESPN has. But Friday on the Late Night Happy Hour, Jorge Sedano takes on his toughest task -- Explaining the state of Florida. It's not a job for everyone, but this Florida native is willing to try. But first, some other stuff, starting with Pat Riley. Is he ever going to r…

The Lakers and Nets were supposed to have a marquee, earth-shaking tussle on Thursday, but instead had it derailed by player absences. No Anthony Davis, no Kevin Durant, and then in a surprise, no Dennis Schroder, who was a late scratch after being put in the COVID protocols. More information about that will surely emerge in the next few days. But …

He's the guy at the center of one of the best new basketball websites out there. Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) of BasketballNews.com joins the Late Night Happy Hour, breaking down a huge range of topics over the course of an hour. We start with the Lakers, who won their first game Tuesday without Anthony Davis. Looking ahead, what do these games w…

He covers the Sacramento Kings for The Athletic, but Jason Jones is also an L.A. dude, and joins the Happy Hour to talk Western Conference basketball and his beloved Dodgers as Spring Training kicks off. We start on the Brooklyn Nets, who are the opponent for the Lakers in Thursday's big marquee national TV matchup. They can't stop anyone, really, …

The Lakers got bad news on Monday, though it certainly could have been worse. Anthony Davis, who re-aggravated his Achilles tendinosis Sunday in Denver, will almost surely miss the nine games remaining for the Lakers before the All Star Break. But an MRI revealed no structural damage to the tendon itself, meaning long term hopes for the season are …

She's the host of the Dimes and Dozens podcast, and a musician (check out her work @tinydeaths). Tonight, Claire de Lune joins the Late Night Happy Hour talking NBA, music and more. We start with... movers! She recently swapped apartments, smack in the middle of the pandemic. And while the experience sucked, the movers did not. So that's a plus. Fr…

He's created a cult following online designed around the unique appeal of sports and pop culture from the 70s and 80s. Ricky Cobb of @Super70sSports joins the Late Night Happy Hour, talking the origin story of his site, why baseball players with glasses seem to be such a fertile ground for excellent Twitter comedy, the reason nostalgia plays so wel…

He was a member of the '94-'95 national championship team at UCLA and played professionally overseas. Kris Johnson joins the Late Night Happy Hour, and we cover all kinds of ground. First, it's all about the Lakers, who are a little stuck in the mud about a third of the way through the season, working through fatigue, injury, poor shooting and more…

The Late Night Happy Hour turns 100 (in episodes, at least, as an independent entity) and as we do with all our historic shows, we turn to Ben Lyons as a guest. He was guest #1 in the original version, then guest #50. He was our first guest on the indie show, and now is our 100th. On a slow night in the NBA, we get deep into Hollywood, and what mig…

He does great work as an NBA writer at The Athletic, where he also hosts the recently launched video series The Restricted Area, with Wosny Lambre. But Zach Harper is also a movie guy, hosting the incredibly fun Cinephobe podcast for the Count the Dings network, and that's where we keep things on the Late Night Happy Hour. We start, as they tend to…