Anthony Slater
Appearances
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
I'm fantastic. I started this season, which, as you mentioned, feels about eight seasons ago in Hawaii, a training camp, and it has been a long, winding, strange journey to this point, but I'm good. You?
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
Yeah, for sure. I think you framed it well. They're more threatening than probably I think either of us would have predicted. But we knew they were going to be... Even the day they made the trade, it was... They didn't give up that many future bullets, but even like current bullets, right?
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
I mean, you were basically essentially just flipping Andrew Wiggins for Jimmy Butler, which, you know, beyond the theatrics of Miami, I think anybody who's watched both play know how much of an upgrade that is. I think that the way he put everybody else into their proper roles and to be honest, like Pajemski just started playing better at that point.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
He was kind of already the momentum was already pushing him forward prior to.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
Yeah, well, I mean, that's the thing. He was spiraling in the first two months of the season for various reasons. And I wouldn't blame Andrew Wiggins or Jimmy Butler not being there for that. It was just his own personal circumstance that he had already turned around by the time Jimmy Butler got there. You mentioned the Warriors believing that they are more of a threat.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
I think we maybe underrated the just mental wear and tear on Draymond and Steph by the middle of the season when they just knew – I remember a Celtics game. It was the MLK Day game where they came out. Porzingis and Horford are hitting threes. The Celtics were just really hot. And when they checked out of the game, Steph probably checked out with nine minutes to go.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
And he just wandered around the court for one minute in this... kind of, you know, almost like depressed spiral of like, why would I even believe there's enough talent? And I remember Steve Kerr said he had a conversation with Steph that day about like, look, you know, we have you who was awesome in the gold medal game on the court. They have, you know, three...
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
of of our gold medalists over there on that team like it's not necessarily a fair fight and i think at by that point in the season by the trade deadline it was just obvious to draymond and steph like they weren't going into these higher level battles with you know a fair fight and i just think they believe they have that now that's invigorated draymond defensively we've seen he's you know running his own personal defensive player of the year campaign right now and that steph has just gone nuclear since jimmy's arrival and i think a lot of that is just like
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
They just believe that they can maybe, as you said, take down a Rockets, a Lakers, a Nuggets in the first round. I'm not going to pick them to win the title, but I'm picking them maybe to win a series, which I wouldn't have done two months ago.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
That was Sam. Sam was on the Houston side last night. But, yeah, I mean, it was a scene. I mean, it reminded me a little of, like, remember Imei going after Draymond during that Celtics-Warriors finals on the sideline? A little bit, yeah.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
Yeah, yeah. And I remember at the time that was Imei, you know, even, you know, letting the Celtics know, like, he's trying a tactic. He's trying a Draymond Green tactic right now, which clearly he thought Draymond was trying last night, and I would agree with him, right? I mean, Draymond mentioned it post-game. Like, he's given up, you know, I think he says six inches and 50 pounds of Sangoon.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
That might be a little bit of exaggeration, but not really. I mean, like, we know you've stood next to Draymond plenty of times. Like, that is not... It's not even really an NBA power forward size. I mean, he would be considered a small power forward. So... He felt the Warriors, I think, physically getting beat around, and he just decided he wanted to charge up the arena.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
We've seen him do that plenty of times. He always edges it close to, as you said, an ejection. They were really upset with the flagrant foul. I don't know what you thought of that last night.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
It also hit Sengoon right in the nose. And they'd been in the – you know, it's like the Draymond tax. You were just kind of, you know, doing your dust-up over here with Sengoon. So the refs almost have to look at it with a closer eye. But, yeah, anyway. Yeah, but you mentioned it. I've never – I'm not sure I've ever seen an opposing coach, like, talk to Steph Curry, like, during a game –
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
beyond just like man you're tough to guard or something like that it was like basically stop complaining uh and you know the Warriors are have been on a crusade lately that Steph just I think they see the playoffs coming they see the physicality the overzealous defenses and and they're trying to almost get the word out like you know he needs to be like he needs some of these off-ball calls when he's getting grappled Butler last night kind of went pretty forceful about it
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
But that was Ime saying, no, stop whining. And on the way off the court, Steph kind of zinged back at him. So it felt playoff level. And I would say the crowds in Chase, I mentioned the team being kind of deflated by the situation. And the crowds in Chase were really bad in San Francisco the middle part of the season. They've been a lot charged. You can tell they're feeling a playoff run coming.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
And that felt like a really good first round type environment last night.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
Thank you. Yeah. You know, Draymond will say he's been around title teams and this, you know, feels like that to him. We'll see. But it's also like they're getting the best version of Jimmy Butler.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
And I think this is, you know, this needs to be a credit to Mike Dunleavy's calculation and relationships on both sides of this, where there was a lot of fear from the warrior side of people who do not know or, you know, prior to the trade did not know Jimmy Butler. And Mike Dunleavy just telling them like, no, look, we get him here. Give him the max extension.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
He'll come here and an engaged, motivated, respected Jimmy Butler feeling like he's being respected financially and believed in. And, you know, we can get in all that or we probably don't need to get into all the dynamics that, you know.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
deteriorated the Miami situation but I think Dunleavy knew that version of Jimmy Butler was going to lift everybody's spirit on court ability and and and like that's what saved the season I mean Steve Kerr's been pretty open about that like in a lot of ways Mike Dunleavy kind of saved their season the matchups are going to be very interesting but if I'm the Warriors and I could just get out of the play-in and definitely get out of eighth maybe get to fourth who knows
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
Yeah, and Wes is so interesting, though, because it's like... I think going into last night, you're like, man, if you get that kind of... You don't want the 7-8, but if you somehow got the Rockets and then you leave last night, you're like, I'm not sure you want that matchup.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
I'll tell you the one, and it's, man, it's crazy to say, but they felt really good going into that Thursday night Lakers game. That was the 14th day of a 14-day road trip, a time you would expect them to kind of be woozy heading into that game.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
And just talking to people even prior to the game was like they were looking at the chessboard, they were looking at their schemes and how they were going to attack the Lakers, and certainly they targeted Luka at times. And, you know, they're switching defense. And that's you mentioned it. That was a Kaminga game. I think they don't hate that matchup.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
And obviously, you know, you make the Luka for 80 trade 100 times out of 100. But in the particular Warriors matchup with Anthony Davis no longer looming in the paint, bothering all the Warriors shots. They just felt a lot freer to attack offensively in that Lakers matchup. And, you know, with not a great group of targets to say, I want that matchup, I want that matchup.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
I'm not sure they would, you know, I think they wouldn't mind the Lakers, you know, in a 3-6 type matchup.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
You got a summer Olympics take. Are you court of gold? Court and gold take. Did you watch court and gold? Yeah, yeah. I did. Great time, right? Yeah, it was really good. It was informative. I thought some of the locker room scenes from Serbia and Canada and France, that stuff was interesting. Batum yelling at his team.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
Yeah.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
I'm very aware because Steve Kerr is adamant to this day, you're not allowed in my locker room, which is funny because he's one of the most press-friendly coaches in the league, as you know. But no, you should hit him up about it because he's proud that you don't have.
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
We should have at least gotten what you were mentioning, like a Steve Kerr kicking the cameras out, like he's so upset. Hey, you're not allowed in here. Like, we didn't even get that, right?
The Zach Lowe Show
Lakers' Statement Win Over OKC? Plus, Awards Talk With Howard Beck and a Warriors Check-In With Anthony Slater.
I would love to cover a 9-10 playing game in Sacramento.