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During the end of July with August rapidly approaching, just about the only NBA content to consume is a mix of grainy workout photos and shaky cam gym videos reminiscent of a fight scene from a Jason Bourne film. I, for one, can’t get enough of it.
This time of year is when everyone has become a knockdown 3-point shooter, lost 15 pounds, somehow also gained 15 pounds of muscle and everything in between. Optimism abounds, and we get to see how stupidly amazing NBA players look when NBA-level defense isn’t being played on them.
So for a possibly recurring piece (let me know what you think of the idea in the comments below), I rounded up a bunch of workout updates from various Lakers this week and put them all together in one place to give Silver Screen and Roll readers all the #SwoleSZN updates they need.
Let’s start with Anthony Davis.
Holy S%#t Anthony Davis Might Be Unstoppable Now
Davis began his first summer as a Laker by stating that he wants to improve at, well, basically everything, but among the areas he said he wanted to get better at was 3-point shooting.
He’s obviously not playing in an NBA game in the clip below, but I don’t care, because I have already decided that he’s now Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant combined. I will not be taking more questions at this time:
Nah,,,,, if Anthony Davis comes out shooting side-step 3s pic.twitter.com/bxbHaAVs4l
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) July 24, 2019
LeBron James And Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Keep The Klutch Konnection Going
James and Caldwell-Pope wouldn’t seem to be natural workout buddies at first glance, but the two share an agency, and seemingly a deeper connection as a result.
We also already knew that the two were among a group of Lakers working out with Quinn Cook, so it’s no surprise that James’ Instagram story this week featured Caldwell-Pope lifting and James, well, watching and lip-syncing, but I’m just assuming he was also lifting when he wasn’t recording Pope:
KCP working out with Bron. pic.twitter.com/iiHQW05CsT
— Sevens (@Msc7Sevens777) July 25, 2019
Can’t wait to hear about KCP being ready to guard fours because of how much muscle he put on during the offseason or something. Let’s get that storyline going.
DeMarcus Cousins And Jason Kidd Are Working Out (As Is Jared Dudley), And Boogie Made A New Friend, Too
One enterprising Reddit user (or their friend, I guess) apparently saw Cousins working out with the highest-paid assistant coach in the NBA in a seemingly random gym, but since it’s July and we are allowed to draw unreasonable conclusions from sketchily sourced photos, let’s just decide that Kidd is teaching Cousins how to be a stronger version of Giannis Antetokounmpo:
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Based on the fact that both are wearing the same clothes in the below photo — offseason social media sleuthing at its finest, thank you — it would seem Jared Dudley was also at this voluntary workout:
Getting ready! #Lakeshow pic.twitter.com/XZzRQG6VRj
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) July 26, 2019
Those aren’t the only people Cousins spent time with this week, as his Twitter account featured what can only be described as one of the greatest pictures of all time:
.44 and .15 pic.twitter.com/vhw18XhsLy
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) July 26, 2019
That’s change we can believe in. The Lakers have an open roster spot, and Barack Obama doesn’t currently have a job. Let’s change both of those things. Boogie/Barack 2019.
Kyle Kuzma Is Still A Gym Rat
Kuzma may be hosting a camp for kids in his hometown of Flint, Michigan this week, but according to his personal shooting coach, Chris “Lethal Shooter” Matthews, Kuzma has been finding time to get his own work in, too:
“@kylekuzma is hungry! Don’t have to ask him to stay longer, always ready to work. Willing to stay in the gym for hours if needed to perfect the task that day. When it’s time to work and locking in, HE’S always gives his complete attention.”@LethalShooter__ pic.twitter.com/qP6r7cJ0nH
— ShowtimeForum (@ShowtimeForum) July 26, 2019
Kuzma has made changes to his jumper with Matthews this summer, and it’s encouraging to see him remaining consistent with putting time in on his game, at the very least.
That’ll do it for offseason updates for now, but feel free to tweet me if you see content for next week’s segment. Until then, enjoy the summer, and let your optimism remain unbridled.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.