What do you think about the Laker team now?

You follow the box scores of the games every day?

Just the Lakers.

You're kidding.

That is really a compliment.

I was pleased to see you smile at the top bar show because once the game starts, you have a game face.

You don't smile much out there.

I don't think you have to do things for money anymore. Correct. What's up, Laker fans? Welcome to the Laker Film Room podcast, brought to by the Blue Wire Podcast Network. I'm Pete, joined by Darius and Mike. And today is part one of our two-part preview of the Western Conference Finals. How cool is that? We're in the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets. A pair of teams who were there in 2020 and then didn't have their guys the last

couple of years. Denver last two playoffs did not have Jamal Murray, did not have Michael Porter,

Jr. But they've got their squad now, as do the Lakers, very excited about this. But we're going to

start with a self-scout. And I would like this conversation to revolve around. I'm not, you're not going to let me talk about Nuggets again? No, no, no, no. So this is not like a moratorium, Mike. But we're going to be talking about the Nuggets and how to beat them and how they try to beat us for the next 10 to 14 days, most likely.

And I think that this Lakers team is young enough to where we've learned quite a bit

about what the team is over the last couple of rounds of the playoffs.

We were just talking about this before we hit record, Dee.

So I think that there was a pivotal moment in the last game of this last series where the

Lakers started Dennis Schrooter in place of Jared Vanderbilt.

I have a broader argument to make about why this has like death lineup type of potential

for the Lakers and why I think it's a significant event.

And so let's start there, that five-man grouping of

Dilo, Austin, Dennis, LeBron, and A.D. Let's rewind real quick before I kick it to you.

LeBron hurts his foot against Dallas, and Lakers got to hold on. It's the end of the regular season.

They're making this push for a playoff spot. And LeBron said several times about how he

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