Another L.A. team the Dodgers are currently down 3-0, after winning the last two World Series. Only one time has a team come back from 3-0 in MLB history.

Yankees did it 98-2000, and then there was the Bulls who had two threepeats in the 90s.

**PTS / REB / AST | TS%**

Austin hasn’t gotten the chance to be primary ball handler much but has always popped off when LeBron and Luka are out. I think he’s got another leap in him. They have surprisingly similar trajectory so far

I was thinking about Bronny and Dalton situations in preseason then I reminded of Phil quote about how he handled Kukoc fragile ego. I mean, I'm not in any way comparing Bronny and Dalton to Kukoc as basketball players, but when I watch those kids playing one thing that catches my attention is that both are better than that, they are clearly playing afraid of the moment, they are thinking about what they can do to avoid failures not what they can do to succeed and Jake was looking like that in playoffs. I don't remember any JJ rant towards Jake, but he had extreme reactions to Bronny and Dalton mistakes in the past and getting a feel for the game, for the players, for momentum and things like that is what IMHO separates the good head coaches from the championship caliber coaches.

Phil's quote about handling Kukoc's fragile ego

"I also used Harper as a foil to get through to other players. Toni Kukoc, for example, didn’t respond well to harsh criticism. If I yelled at him, he would often shrink and lose confidence. Ron, on the other hand, was bulletproof. He could handle any amount of abuse. So when Toni made a mistake, I’d sometimes take it out on Ron, knowing that Toni would get the message without getting his feelings hurt."

I think about some guys that never won, Rick Adelman teams always played beautiful basketball, Mike Dantoni invented the modern NBA, Tex Winter was the genius behind the Tri and he was still the guy showing Phil the adjustments needed, but then why it was Phil and not Tex the basketball sicko that won 11 titles as a head coach? Because Phil had the intangibles.

I'm not bashing JJ here, he has done the transition from a podcaster basketball sicko cosplayed as head coach to a solid head coach in the second half of last season, but I still see a lot of room for improvement and one of them is finding ways to keep the confidence of his players high, no team is going to win with the players second guessing themselves. I don't think Bronny and Dalton can be rescued, but we can afford things like that happening to key players, to our "Toni Kukoc".

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A note on Tait-Jones

Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, who played at UC San Diego and was Big West Player of the Year in 2025, spent last year in Latvia where he was the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League Final MVP.

teams do this so that players end up on their G League teams. Expect Young to be there with Castro, Swider, Tait-Jones, Chase Ross, etc. ​

Walker Kessler, the Lakers’ big offseason addition, made his preseason debut Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors after missing the team’s first three exhibition games with a minor pinky injury.

Playing just the first half, Kessler had 11 points, nine rebounds, one steal and one block. The Lakers outscored the Warriors by 15 points in Kessler’s minutes.

“I mean, it was a lot of fun being out there again. It’s been so long. Before the game, I was actually pretty nervous, to be honest,” Kessler said. “But getting out there and just playing with the guys, it was a blast. I can’t really, you know speak to … I think I have a certain presence on the floor, but I think my teammates around me did a great job of playing defense on the perimeter. I think we shared the ball really well tonight. Just how it was, especially in the first half. It was a lot of fun.

For Kessler, it was his first NBA action since Oct. 31, 2025, five games into last season. He missed the remainder of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Read for free: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7688723/2026/10/14/walker-kessler-lakers-preseason-nba/?unlocked_article_code=1.IlE.TbaT.4MnKyfXh3HVo&source=emp_shared_article&smid=re-share-ta

Luka Doncic: 6'8

Walker Kessler: 7'2

Plus,

Luka's Nickname: Luka Magic

Earvin's Nickname: Magic Johnson

Championship: Confirmed

Any Questions?

I’m not sure if they’ll be better than last year just yet, but there’s clearly a new culture and a new standard here. The effort and intensity every night is different and that’s something that wasn’t consistent in previous years.

(Not a shot at Lebron btw, more of a criticism of last year’s role players for not being consistent with their efforts.)

Kessler made a big impact on both ends of the floor. This is a completely different team with him playing. I honestly still can’t believe we got him.

What did everyone think of his preseason debut?

It’s been nearly two years since the Lakers have had a dominant frontcourt player. They’ve searched high and low for the right big to be the cornerstone of their franchise. In Tuesday’s preseason game, Walker Kessler lived up to the hype.

“He’s an amazing rim protector,” Sandro Mamukelashvili said postgame. “He’s so tough, physical. He plays hard. So it was amazing having him there. Especially rebounding, it’s so much easier to rebound. I think he brings a lot of impact. He had a great first game, and I’m sure he’s going to get better from here.”

Kessler ended the game with 11 points, 9 rebounds and was a +15 in just 16 minutes. That seems like a great debut and an exciting appetizer of what's to come.

Mamu has exceeded expectations so far, the way he brings the ball up, the way he moves and the effort he brings is great. He’s the type of player every team needs. I also think he’s improved this off season. I’ve never seen someone so big as him bring the ball up so effortlessly and quickly decision make in transition.

What do you think his ceiling can be?

I watch on the NBA app and subscribe to the spectrum SportsNet plan for 20 a month to stream the games, but the quality is often terrible and not good. Meanwhile, I’m watching the dodgers shit the bed on the Fox one app, and the quality is way way better than the NBA app. Does anyone get good quality streams? It could be that I am watching on a 100” tv so things are more stretched out, but I don’t know how MLB gets the quality higher.