Tag: Los Angeles Lakers

LeBron James has conquered professional basketball, opened his own school, become an outspoken voice in American politics and race relations, and was arguably the best part of “Trainwreck.” A few months before he makes his official debut as a Los Angeles Laker, the basketball superstar has added another item to his resume, making his debut as a talk show host, of sorts, in HBO’s “The Shop.” In the half-hour series that premiered Tuesday, James chats with celebrity guests about sports, yes, but also politics, race relations, parenthood, the pressure of success and even Broadway musicals. HBO already tried the sports-adjacent-talk-show-on-a-school-night thing with “Any Given Wednesday,” Bill Simmons’ short-lived talker in 2016. (The premiere was filmed last month at West Hollywood’s Barber Surgeons Guild.) Though the effort to capture the vibrance and tell-it-like-it-is spirit of the African American barbershop met with slightly mixed results in the first episode, “The Shop” is more than worth a return visit. The series is, if nothing else, an impressive feat of booking. In the debut episode, James is joined by his childhood friend, business partner and unofficial sidekick Maverick Carter, and a roster that included rappers Snoop Dogg and Vince Staples, comedian Jerrod Carmichael, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors and New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. The guest list also includes faces that might not typically show up in a barbershop, like former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart and Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks. Cameras positioned in seemingly every corner of the shop capture the participants as they get their hair trimmed, swill brandy and lounge in leather armchairs. Stylish black-and-white photographs of guests arriving at the shop serve as act breaks and enhance the show’s documentary feel. But the choppy editing sometimes removes context from the conversation, offering little sense of how one subject flows to the next.

LaVar Ball, the outspoken father of Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball, says he isn't worried about whether or not he can coexist with LeBron James in LA.

Still, it was a more promising time for me, a Timberwolves fan since their early days in the league. I have less time now to do the things I did when I was in my early 20s, and thankfully so. I miss sports games now, even when my favorite teams are playing. The Western Conference playoff race was unprecedented in how tight it was: The third-place team and the ninth-place team were separated by four wins or less, depending on when you checked, so a short winning streak or a short losing streak could mean the difference between being locked in a high-playoff seed or sitting at home. The Timberwolves were in third place once, briefly, toward the end of February. In a perfect storm of scheduling, the NBA had Denver and Minnesota play each other in the final game of the season, their records tied, with the winner getting into the NBA playoffs. I found myself thrilled by this, rooting for a team that I once imagined great, before they became an underdog, having to claw their way to a place that they'd felt had been promised. If there is a difference in what draws me to sports now, it is narrative, and so I watched the Timberwolves in new ways, rooting for the race to get closer. Sports have been political for decades now, but the ways they present as political today can feel a lot more all-encompassing. It is easy to tune out the world's lurching forward.