The NBA is back and so is the traveling circus that is the Los Angeles Lakers, a soap opera in gym shorts with all the stylized drama and millennial angst of a Taylor Swift album. It’s hard to form any meaningful opinions on the Lakers’ trajectory through two games, both losses, albeit to upper-echelon opponents in the Clippers and defending champion Golden State Warriors.
But what we do know is that the Lakers, coming off a dreadful 11th-place finish in the Western Conference (a game behind the Spurs for the fourth and final play-in spot), are going to be a meme a minute, churning out viral content on a nightly basis. Which brings us to Exhibit A—rookie coach Darvin Ham, during a stoppage in play Thursday night, reiterating his defensive philosophy in hilariously straightforward fashion, giving rise to the first great meme of the 2022-23 NBA season.
While Ham’s clipboard musings opened him up to mockery with online trolls having a field day at the rookie coach’s expense, sometimes it’s the simplest maxims that carry the most weight.
All things considered, the Lakers, in spite of a disastrous shooting night by disgruntled All-Star Russell Westbrook (0-for-11 including 0-of-6 from three-point land), more than held their own against the Clippers, putting forth a respectable effort in a six-point loss at newly-rebranded Crypto.com Arena. The Clippers were led by a balanced performance from two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, who contributed 14 points off the bench in his return from an ACL injury that shelved him all of last season.
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