Rob Pelinka wants the Lakers to let the Clippers know whose city it is on opening night

The NBA released the full regular season schedule which means NBA TV’s programming is currently built around looking ahead to a fresh season of basketball. Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka joined NBA TV’s Gametime to discuss the Lakers’ season opener against the LA Clippers, and as usual, had plenty to say.

Pelinka was asked for his thoughts about opening night and Lonzo’s role as a rookie, and away he went.

“If you study history it seems to kind of come in cycles and the last decade or so we’ve seen it be dominated by scoring point guards. You know, Steph and Russell Westbrook and James Harden as a point guard last year. These guys that are volume scorers, extraordinary players, incredible players. And then all the sudden comes along a rookie point guard whose game is based on, really, the opposite of that. It’s passing, and setting up teammates and sharing the ball.

“It’s almost like you’re seeing kind of a swerve from the current, the way that the stream is flowing the other direction. I think a lot of people are really interested to see how that plays out. I think, for us, we have to remember too opening night is against our cross-town rivals the Clippers,” Pelinka said.

You can watch the quick clip here, which gives you some sweet Las Vegas Summer League action from Lonzo to watch while Pelinka chats up the Gametime crew:

“I think the mentality we want here is we want our guys to circle that game and say ‘hey, let’s make a statement about what this city is about and how we want to play and compete every night.’ Really cool opening night here in Laker Land and we’re really excited,” Pelinka said.

The season opens on Oct. 19, and the Lakers coming out and letting the Clippers feel the wraith of the new franchise point guard in Los Angeles would be an ideal way to start the season.

Bonus quote since it’s transcribed:

“Lonzo doesn’t crave the attention. He doesn’t crave the credit. He’s really a humble, quiet guy and it’s interesting I think because of that, and because of his mentality, his teammates want to talk about him. They want to talk about the way he plays and shares the ball and plays to win. I think at the other end of the spectrum, I think you run into players who you feel like kind of crave that attention, and then their teammates are less likely to step up and want to praise them.” - Rob Pelinka