Podcast: How confident are the Lakers despite Anthony Davis’ injury?

Slightly different schedule this week given the holiday, but nonetheless, I welcomed one of my absolute favorite guests onto “The Anthony Irwin Show.” Aaron Larsuel of, well, the Los Angeles Lakers hopped on this episode to discuss the current state of the team.

Despite everything, per Larsuel, the Lakers remain not only confident in their ability to potentially win this series, but feel like they should be the favorites. That feels noteworthy.

On this episode, we got into why that remains the case despite them either not having Anthony Davis available at all, or him being hobbled even if he does play. Neither of those scenarios feel optimal, but because LeBron James is starting to look healthier, belief is still in ample supply.

If Davis is not able to play, Aaron and I spent quite a bit of time discussing how the Lakers should handle his absence, especially from a personnel standpoint. You’re never going to believe this, but both he and I think this should mean more time on the court for Marc Gasol.

We also had a fun exchange on whether teams ever acknowledge internally that they’re just outmatched with a certain team. While no team would ever explicitly admit it, sometimes, reality does set in internally. The reason I asked this of Aaron was to check in on the Lakers, who he says are far from that point.

We also got into his (and my actual) most embarrassing sports moment, which you’ll be surprised to find out is not the churrostumble, in my case.

Then, on today’s Lakers Lowdown, I welcomed my wife, Dr Jennifer Irwin, on to discuss Davis’ injury in detail, and whether he can play through the pain.

You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a show, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

You can follow Aaron and myself on Twitter @AaronLarsuel and @AnthonyIrwinLA.

And for a short-form recap pod, check out Lakers Lowdown, in which I recap the previous day’s news and gets you ready for the day ahead in LakerLand, every weekday morning on the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast feed.