In the late hours of Wednesday night, ESPN reported the Los Angeles Lakers would acquire guard Patrick Beverley from the Utah Jazz. The Lakers will send Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to the Jazz.
Beverly is no stranger to playing in Los Angeles, having a stint with the Clippers from 2017 to 2021. This past season he played with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Early Thursday morning, Beverly hit Twitter to express his joy in going back to L.A.
Beverly is expected to help anchor a stingy Lakers defense under new head coach Darvin Ham.
Fans online immediately wondered how Patrick Beverly would align next to Russell Westbrook as the two have not been the fondest of each other over the years.
The Los Angeles Lakers are signing their star forward LeBron James to a two-year extension worth $97.1 million. Multiple reports said the deal includes a player option for the 2024-25 season. Â
With $532 million in guaranteed career earnings, this epic new contract makes the 37-year-old the highest paid player in terms of salary in the leagueâs history, surpassing Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets.
James was going to enter the final year of his current deal this upcoming season. Rich Paul, CEO of Klutch Sports reportedly said King James had a final year deal worth $44.5M.
 LeBron joined the Lakers as a free agent in 2018 and won the NBA Championship with the team in 2020.Â
The Los Angeles Lakers have announced the retirement of Pau Gasolâs No. 16 jersey number. The ceremony will occur during the March 7, 2023, game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
During his seven-season run with the Lakers, Gasol aided Los Angeles in capturing back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. He was selected to the All-NBA Second Team in 2011 and to the All-NBA Third Team in 2009 and 2010 while wearing the purple and gold. He earned three of his six career NBA All-Star awards while playing for the Lakers (2009â2011).
LeBron James will be a member of the Los Angeles Lakers for the foreseeable future. According to ESPNâs Adrian Wojnarowski, James and the Lakers have agreed to a two-year, $97.1 million extension.
The new deal includes a 15 percent trade kicker, which makes King James the highest earning player in NBA history with $532 million in guaranteed money.
The new contract contains a player option for the 2024-25 season. The deal can increase to $111 million if the salary cap increases in 2023-24.
LeBron James must really want to play with Stephen Curry before his career is over. When asked what NBA superstar he wanted to play with, James didnât hesitate with his answer. Off the rip, he said, âSteph Curry.â
Heâs back at giving hints of joining the Warrior dynasty. In the preview trailer for the upcoming episode of HBOâs The Shop, James said the Warriors are the one remaining playoff team heâd join.
âItâd be Golden State. I would love getting into a pissing match with Draymond [Green]; I love when somebody cusses me out,â James said.
Prior to LeBron making this statement about joining Golden State, he appeared on The Shop and said he wanted to play with Steph. He even gave his reason why.
âIn todayâs game, sât, there some motherfâkers in todayâs game, but Steph Curry,â James said on The Shop. âSteph Curry is the one that I want to play with for sure in todayâs game. ⌠I love everything about that guy. Lethal. Steph, when he get out his car, you better guard him right from the moment he pulls up to the arena. Soon as he get out of his car, you better guard his ass.â
Could you imagine LeBron and Steph Curry on the same squad? The best shooter ever with arguably the best player ever? Well, Chef Curry couldnât imagine it either. He quickly shut down the idea of him and James teaming up.
âWell, heâs got his wish,â Curry said on 95.7 The Game (h/t NBC Sports). âWhen heâs the captain, heâs picked me the last two All-Star Games. I donât know if that suffices, but Iâm good right now. Whenever you get the interest or curiosity of what it would be like to play with the MVP-caliber dude that he is, one of the greatest of all time, itâs cool. Thatâs amazing. We all can live in that fantasy world.â
The Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff wonât take any mess. Joining new Lakers coach Darvin Ham on the sidelines will be former NBA All-Star and Detroit Pistons legend Rasheed Wallace.
According to Shams Charania, Wallace is set to join as an assistant coach, continuing a relationship that started when he and Ham led the Pistons to a championship in 2004.
Wallace last played in the NBA in 2013, and last season spent time with Penny Hardaway as an assistant coach at the University of Memphis. Memphis coach Penny Hardaway teased it days in advance to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
âI think Rasheed might be going to LA with Darvin Ham. That was the deal from the beginning. If Darvin had gotten a job last year, Rasheed had already promised him that he was going to go with him. So, Iâm thinking this year, with him getting the Lakers job, (Wallace) might still be going along with that process.â
â Penny Hardaway
Excited to see Wallace on the Purple and Gold sidelines this year?
The Los Angeles Lakers have found their next head coach and LeBron James is excited. According to ESPN, Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham has agreed to a four-year deal to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Adrian Wojnarowski notes Ham became the standout candidate in recent dates leading to the offer. The Lakers brass believes Hamâs stature and toughness, in addition to his championship experience as both a player and a coach, be a proper fit for the franchise. Ham also worked with the Lakers from 2011-2013.
Ham will now take on the task of coaching Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and James, the latter of who welcomed the coach on Twitter.
âSo damn EXCITED!!!!!!!! Congrats and welcome Coach DHam!!â James tweeted online.
Ham won a championship as a player with the 2004 Detroit Pistons and as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks last year.
First, it was Magic Johnson, and now itâs the logo Jerry West, who isnât a fan of his portrayal on HBOâs Winning Time series.
In a statement obtained by ESPN, which the outlet states was sent to the network and executive producer Adam McKay, representatives for the former Lakers player, coach, and general manager said the series âfalsely and cruelly portrays Mr. West as an out-of-control, intoxicated rage-aholic.â The series, centering on the Showtime era of the storied Lakers franchise during the 1980s, includes Jason Clarke as West and John C. Reilly as then-team owner Dr. Jerry Buss.
The show is based on Jeff Pearlmanâs book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s. West himself referred to the series as a âbaseless and malicious assaultâ on his character.Â
Skip Miller, one of Westâs lawyers and a partner at Miller Barondess, LLP law firm, said the show is based on the fabrication that attempts to create facts that have âcaused great distress to West and his family.âÂ
â⌠Jerry [West] had nothing but love for and harmony with the Lakers organization, and in particular owner Dr. Jerry Buss, during an era in which he assembled one of the greatest teams in NBA history,â the statement said, per ESPN.
West has long been considered one of the best men and mentors to several generations of NBA talents to step foot in the league. Itâs very easy to see how upset he could be with the HBO showâs view of him, considering he is considered a Laker legend and never that of a tyrant.
After Los Angeles Lakers played their regular-season finale, it was a matter of when, not if, they would let head coach Frank Vogel go. Well, it appears we have an answer.
According to ESPNâs Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers are expected to fire Vogel as soon as Monday. The report came after their 146-141 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday to close out the regular season.
After the Lakersâ win, Vogel talked to the media as the Wojnarowski report was Tweeted out. âI havenât been told sâ and Iâm going to enjoy tonightâs game, celebrate what these young guys did in terms of scratching and clawing and getting back in this game and getting a W, and weâll deal with tomorrow, tomorrow,â he told reporters during his postgame media availability.
The Lakers failed to make the playoffs, let alone the play in-game. The team is only two years removed from winning the 2020 NBA Championship. Since then, it was a first-round exit last season and a complete failure of a season this time around. Clearly, the organization is painting Vogel as the scapegoat when the championship roster was scrapped for older veterans who couldnât hang all season long.
Next for the Lakersâ organization is to begin an extensive such for the teamâs next head coach. That next head coach will have to find a way to get the best out of a core that includes LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook.