Lakers Hold 'Heart To Heart' Meeting Instead Of Practice

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Los Angeles Lakers held a "heart to heart" meeting in place of practice on Thursday.

"Just clearing up some things, what we can be better at, how we can hold each other to be more accountable, more accountable for ourselves, and how we can just get a better feeling for the game," Brandon Ingram said after the team's shootaround on Friday. "... I don't think you work through it in one day, but I think we put it out there about how each guy was feeling about how they play on the basketball floor, about how they're feeling about the business of the organization, how they want to be played or anything of that nature. I think they just put it all out there, and ultimately I would hope they felt free after they did."

Luke Walton noticed players "pouting" on the bench after a recent loss.

Andrew Bogut cited injuries, rotations and how "everyone knows what is going on with the salary-cap situation next season."

"We just really had a heart to heart," rookie Kyle Kuzma said. "We're just trying to get back on the same page. That happens at all levels. It's no different. Every team has problems. Championship teams have problems and whatnot. Meetings are always good. ... But, of course, everybody on the team said something about how they feel."

Via Ohm Youngmisuk/ESPN

[Pickled Prunes]

Yeah, it's going to take more than landing a big-time free agent to turn this ship around. The culture is fractured.

[ChokeFasncists]

They're a young team, it's gonna take time

[We Are Groot]

Yeah, it's going to take more than landing a big-time free agent to turn this ship around. The culture is fractured.

first off, i'm not calling you an idiot or being combative or anything like that, please don't take my questions that way. i come here to have discussions not to bicker ... i'm all about respect

but i'm curious about your take. can you elaborate on what you mean by "fractured"? and also, do you watch many of their games?

up until a few games into the 'most difficult stretch of games in NBA history,' the team was riding pretty high imho. after thrillers against PHI, NYK, GSW (multiple times) and HOU & big moments for several of our young players, i wouldn't think "fractured" wld accurately describe the mood of the team @ all. and that was maybe 7 or so games ago. in fact, not until the Portland game last weekend was there any semblance of a "fractured culture" visible. Maybe Randle coming off the bench made some waves early, but again, i don't think it'd be accurate to say that move "fractured our culture." so again, what are you basing your evaluation on if i may ask?

jus for background. i've been a die-hard Laker fan for over 20 years and have watched every second of every game and all the local Spectrum coverage for each game this season. again, up until Portland, i did not get a "fractured" vibe from the team @ all.

losing has negative effects on any team ofc, but to imply things have gotten toxic lately seems inaccurate.

[Toranaga]

Same thing happened to the Knicks in the 09-10 season. It's pretty much the same situation. It's hard to be a team striving towards the same goal (winning) if you know you are going to be shipped off soon and the franchise doesn't want you or care about you.

In the Knicks case, everyone knew they were making a run at FA's at the end of the season so the vets they had were playing for future contracts and mainly concerned about getting their stats (Harrington, David Lee, etc.). It almost seemed like they were freezing the young players (Gallo, Chandler) out on purpose, which you can never know for sure.

I see the same thing when I watch these Lakers, particularly with Randle and Clarkson. It's a messy situation and I don't think a meeting is going to solve it unfortunately. Just gotta ride out another bad season and hope you strike gold in the offseason. But I've seen this story before, so I doubt it works out that way tbh.

[Pickled Prunes]

Yeah, it's going to take more than landing a big-time free agent to turn this ship around. The culture is fractured.

first off, i'm not calling you an idiot or being combative or anything like that, please don't take my questions that way. i come here to have discussions not to bicker ... i'm all about respect

but i'm curious about your take. can you elaborate on what you mean by "fractured"? and also, do you watch many of their games?

up until a few games into the 'most difficult stretch of games in NBA history,' the team was riding pretty high imho. after thrillers against PHI, NYK, GSW (multiple times) and HOU & big moments for several of our young players, i wouldn't think "fractured" wld accurately describe the mood of the team @ all. and that was maybe 7 or so games ago. in fact, not until the Portland game last weekend was there any semblance of a "fractured culture" visible. Maybe Randle coming off the bench made some waves early, but again, i don't think it'd be accurate to say that move "fractured our culture." so again, what are you basing your evaluation on if i may ask?

jus for background. i've been a die-hard Laker fan for over 20 years and have watched every second of every game and all the local Spectrum coverage for each game this season. again, up until Portland, i did not get a "fractured" vibe from the team @ all.

losing has negative effects on any team ofc, but to imply things have gotten toxic lately seems inaccurate.

Any time you have an organization playing for next year you have a problem. When players know they are not part of you long term plans you have a problem. When multiple players are playing for their next contract you have a problem. Their player development has suffered for years because they think they can just sign or trade for their next star. It isn't a problem with their players; the problem is that the organization doesn't believe in their players. Instead of committing to their players they are rooting against OKC in hopes that PG13 will come and save them. (Which he is incapable of doing. The Pacers currently have a better record without him than they did last year with him... and that's in the East.) The Lakers organization is losing a ton of games while acting like only a few of their players matter. Meanwhile the Spurs are winning a ton of games and Danny Green is second in minutes at 27 MPG because all of their players matter. It's a culture thing... and the Lakers culture is fractured.

And yeah, I grew up in LA going to Showtime at the Forum. I've watched a few games.

[spicy6]

Coming from a laker fan, this meeting is pointless. The guys within and everybody around the lakers organization know the only players that are 100% safe are lonzo, ingram, and kuzma. This is what happens when you make it a priority to say "oh we're gonna sign 1 or 2 big max guys" and with the whole Paul George coming, LeBron james bolting, Demarcus cousins talk etc.... its inevitable. Much rather would have developed guys, and just like that youve created a toxic work environment and its very fair to say. Lakers look pretty stupid if nobody ends up coming and just like that you hit a new low.

[spicy6]

Yeah, it's going to take more than landing a big-time free agent to turn this ship around. The culture is fractured.

first off, i'm not calling you an idiot or being combative or anything like that, please don't take my questions that way. i come here to have discussions not to bicker ... i'm all about respect

but i'm curious about your take. can you elaborate on what you mean by "fractured"? and also, do you watch many of their games?

up until a few games into the 'most difficult stretch of games in NBA history,' the team was riding pretty high imho. after thrillers against PHI, NYK, GSW (multiple times) and HOU & big moments for several of our young players, i wouldn't think "fractured" wld accurately describe the mood of the team @ all. and that was maybe 7 or so games ago. in fact, not until the Portland game last weekend was there any semblance of a "fractured culture" visible. Maybe Randle coming off the bench made some waves early, but again, i don't think it'd be accurate to say that move "fractured our culture." so again, what are you basing your evaluation on if i may ask?

jus for background. i've been a die-hard Laker fan for over 20 years and have watched every second of every game and all the local Spectrum coverage for each game this season. again, up until Portland, i did not get a "fractured" vibe from the team @ all.

losing has negative effects on any team ofc, but to imply things have gotten toxic lately seems inaccurate.

Im a laker fan, and this whole "meeting" business implys that the team is fractured within. Its a business, and yes people are playing for contracts but when you make it a point to say "oh we want to get 1 or 2 big free agents" and sign guys like KCP to 1 year deals, get an expiring contract in lopez, and relegate your 7th round pick to a sixth/seventh man on a expiring deal that you most likely wont match it rubs the rest of your talent the wrong way. The only guys safe are lonzo, ingram, and kuz and two of those 3 spoke out about it here, its not about games being close sure we cant close but we're in general not a good team its still a losing culture and I much rather would have developed all this talent in years to come then shoot for FA that may or may not be coming. And if they dont come how ridiculous would the lakers look especially.

[We Are Groot]

Same thing happened to the Knicks in the 09-10 season. It's pretty much the same situation. It's hard to be a team striving towards the same goal (winning) if you know you are going to be shipped off soon and the franchise doesn't want you or care about you.

...

I see the same thing when I watch these Lakers, particularly with Randle and Clarkson. It's a messy situation and I don't think a meeting is going to solve it unfortunately. Just gotta ride out another bad season and hope you strike gold in the offseason. But I've seen this story before, so I doubt it works out that way tbh.

interesting comparison, but maybe not entirely accurate - i get the Melo coming to town angle; but that Knicks team wasn't going anywhere and had very little in terms of assets other than picks, whereas these Lakers presumably have 3 of their future building blocks in place. aside from maybe David Lee, there were no character guys on that Knicks team; again, this is not true of these Lakers. if you really do watch them u'd kno, up until that road trip, this start to the season was the most promising in 5 years. hardly a "bad season" up to that point and your assessment of Randle and Clarkson would be 100% inaccurate again, up until this recent stretch of games. not only were both of them playing well and playing hard, the whole team was ... ergo, i don't see your comp to those tire fire Knicks except for maybe this handful of recent games. if you're basing their entire season on that, i wld argue that's conveniently ignoring some key data, but that's certainly your prerogative.

i do agree the team has issues in the short term, but the trade rumors re: Randle & Clarkson were present before the season started and as i've pointed out, they played very well despite them. maybe i'm just being a biased fan, but i'm doubtful this team is broken. there's no reason they can't get back to their early season form unless they insist on letting outside influences affect their play. not uncommon for a young, inexperienced team ofc, but i'd be singing a different tune if they'd have looked bad all year.

[Jody Smokz]

You seem to have a very bad memory when it comes to the team the Knicks had during the trade. David Lee was already a Warrior when that happened. Amare had just signed the offseason of that year, Gallo was avg 15/4/4 and Wilson Chandler was avg 16/5/5 and they were actually the 7th or 8th seed at the time.

Gallo, Chandler, Felton (who was actually pretty good at the time) and future picks went out in that deal.

Same thing happened to the Knicks in the 09-10 season. It's pretty much the same situation. It's hard to be a team striving towards the same goal (winning) if you know you are going to be shipped off soon and the franchise doesn't want you or care about you.

...

I see the same thing when I watch these Lakers, particularly with Randle and Clarkson. It's a messy situation and I don't think a meeting is going to solve it unfortunately. Just gotta ride out another bad season and hope you strike gold in the offseason. But I've seen this story before, so I doubt it works out that way tbh.

interesting comparison, but maybe not entirely accurate - i get the Melo coming to town angle; but that Knicks team wasn't going anywhere and had very little in terms of assets other than picks, whereas these Lakers presumably have 3 of their future building blocks in place. aside from maybe David Lee, there were no character guys on that Knicks team; again, this is not true of these Lakers. if you really do watch them u'd kno, up until that road trip, this start to the season was the most promising in 5 years. hardly a "bad season" up to that point and your assessment of Randle and Clarkson would be 100% inaccurate again, up until this recent stretch of games. not only were both of them playing well and playing hard, the whole team was ... ergo, i don't see your comp to those tire fire Knicks except for maybe this handful of recent games. if you're basing their entire season on that, i wld argue that's conveniently ignoring some key data, but that's certainly your prerogative.

i do agree the team has issues in the short term, but the trade rumors re: Randle & Clarkson were present before the season started and as i've pointed out, they played very well despite them. maybe i'm just being a biased fan, but i'm doubtful this team is broken. there's no reason they can't get back to their early season form unless they insist on letting outside influences affect their play. not uncommon for a young, inexperienced team ofc, but i'd be singing a different tune if they'd have looked bad all year.

[CelticsWin5]

The wheels on the bus are falling off, falling off, falling off

[smittybanton]

They just played Golden State, San Antonio, Portland... Talent-wise, they were supposed to lose their last six games or so.

[DjPuffnStuff]

Would've been nice to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.

[RickB-Orlando]

Serious question, is this team better or worse with Lonzo Ball?

I mean the kid is putting up some impressive numbers, 10PPG, 7RPG, 7APG...but his efficiency is lousy. 35% from the field and 48% from the free throw line? Would the Lakers be better with someone else at the point...anyone else at the point?

Because from afar, Ingram, KCP, Lopez, Kuzma...looks like a pretty decent group.

[Pickled Prunes]

Serious question, is this team better or worse with Lonzo Ball?

I mean the kid is putting up some impressive numbers, 10PPG, 7RPG, 7APG...but his efficiency is lousy. 35% from the field and 48% from the free throw line? Would the Lakers be better with someone else at the point...anyone else at the point?

Because from afar, Ingram, KCP, Lopez, Kuzma...looks like a pretty decent group.

Certainly, today they would be better with almost any other PG. So the ongoing question will be: are they willing and able to develop their youth?

Also, for better or worse, KCP and Lopez do not seem to be part of their long term plan. At this point Ingram/Kuzma/Ball does not look anything like a championship core.

[gordoncatrell]

Serious question, is this team better or worse with Lonzo Ball?

I mean the kid is putting up some impressive numbers, 10PPG, 7RPG, 7APG...but his efficiency is lousy. 35% from the field and 48% from the free throw line? Would the Lakers be better with someone else at the point...anyone else at the point?

Because from afar, Ingram, KCP, Lopez, Kuzma...looks like a pretty decent group.

Certainly, today they would be better with almost any other PG. So the ongoing question will be: are they willing and able to develop their youth?

Also, for better or worse, KCP and Lopez do not seem to be part of their long term plan. At this point Ingram/Kuzma/Ball does not look anything like a championship core.

i repeat. INGRAM/KUZMA/LONZO/NANCE are the core moving forward. all else is assets/trade bait. JRandle/JC are expendable and they seem to know it; they are rightfully feeling mistreated, but it is what it is. JC/Randle are young cap friendly (bundle type multiplayer deals w vets: Lopez, Deng, KCP, etc).
this season is a success not based on W's, but on the continued development of BIngram, Kuzma, Ball, Nance.

[bulls4ever]

usually takes time for a PG to get used to NBA and be effective. But answering, yeah. Lakers would, currently, be better without Lonzo. would be much better without his dad too

[HarthorneWingo]

I think they should try meditating together.

Watch on YouTube

[Dynamix]

After seeing their defense against the Clippers, maybe they should've stuck to the practice.

[dantheman74]

Each time i've read of a team having a meeting they come out and lose the next game. In the Lakers situation there's obviously something really bad going on for Bogut to bother saying last week that guys are upset, Australasian men don't discuss feelings or have heart to hearts, it's harden up or gtfo. Steven Adams will hit you with a jandal.