Good morning Lakers fans! Welcome to another edition of Saturday Superlatives. This gives me a chance to look at everything basketball and non-basketball as it pertains to the Lakers. The team took on the Pistons, Knicks, and Mavericks. Let’s take a look at this past week.
Performance of the week
It has to go to LeBron James against the Dallas Mavericks on the 10th of January. In just 32 minutes, LeBron was able to put up a stat line of 35/16/7. This does mark a game in which LeBron doesn’t have double-digit assist totals but his role was different here. He had to play the de-facto center in an ultra-small lineup with Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee in foul trouble.
Still, LeBron was able to make light work of the situation.
He was a +13 in 32 minutes, shot 14/25 and made three of his six three-pointers. He was not getting calls that he should’ve and might’ve scored more if he went to the line more than 5 times.
Photo of the week
Alex Caruso had a breakaway dunk against the Detroit Pistons. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, readers: there were seven wonders of the world. This is now the eighth. Caruso made the dunk and did a gesture similar to Aaron Rodger’s championship belt celebration except with his headband. He continued doing this gesture well into the game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The picture does not capture LeBron James jumping with elation at this as well. I’m including a link of the video here to see this joyous moment in motion.
Here’s to hoping we get more moments with headband Caruso.
Dwight and LeBron on the Caruso dunk 😂 pic.twitter.com/1fAQJYtQH4
— Brett Shanker (@brettshanker) January 6, 2020
Play of the week
Consider this an entry for the dunk contest, @NBA. pic.twitter.com/iDun0Ql38q
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) January 8, 2020
It’s Alex Caruso again. Against the Knicks, headband Caruso had a reverse dunk after the Knicks’ “NBA” players let the bald eagle take flight. These were his only points on the game which makes this even funnier to me. As you can see here he comes back with the headband celebration.
Am I biased for having Caruso on here twice? Yes.
Does mentioning Caruso more and more mean I’ll get hired by a national news outlet? I’m trying to figure that out.
There has been plenty of discourse about Caruso making the all-star game. It’s hilarious to me how many NBA fans are getting mad it’s becoming a popularity contest. There’s probably no way in hell he ACTUALLY makes it. But that’s not going to stop us from trying. Vote here. Let’s get as many Lakers in the game!
Kicks of the week
This was an easy one. When the Lakers took on the Knicks, LeBron went away from his LeBron 17’s. He decided to wear the Nike LeBron 15, inspired by the “Net” Nike Air Yeezy 1. There have been many #LeBronWatch colorways that blend known colorways from different sneakers onto LeBron silhouettes.
Sadly, this is the only one ever made. It pains me that we live in a world that does not have these on sale. It brings us back to the days where Kanye West actually had shoes that looked visually pleasing. Let’s not lie to ourselves. Those Adidas without his name are not flying off the shelves.
Damn hype beasts.
Stat of the week
JaVale just hit a 3. Retweet for good luck. pic.twitter.com/NtRZkbevg3
— Lake Show (@LakeShowFamily) January 6, 2020
Dwight got his contract guaranteed today, only right he celebrates with a 3-pointer 😂 pic.twitter.com/78CGb2xlXN
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 8, 2020
Javale McGee and Dwight Howard are shooting better than Ben Simmons beyond the arc. Altogether, they each have two three-pointers each. It is truly a beautiful sight to see the Lakers’ bigs get in on the fun. It is even funnier when you realize they are shooting better than Simmons from outside. I’m not kidding. The two Lakers bigs are 4/7 while Simmons is just 2/5.
Let’s get JaVale into the three-point competition.
Celebrity sighting of the week
It’s Jack Nicholson! Also, It’s Torey Lanez!
I couldn’t think of a more random set of people sitting together. Stars always make it out to Laker games and the game against the Knicks was no exception. It’s just funny to me that this picture happened. Here you have the guy who starred in “The Shining” and the guy who sang “Jerry Sprunger”.
Find me a more random pairing. You can’t.
