S66 Lakers Presser: YES. WE. DID. edition
Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2023 1:56 pm
The live feed flickers to life. Out of focus then into focus in a blink. Two men in frame, facing each other on a basketball court. One shirtless, one with a purple Lakers shirt, heavy with sweat.
Safi Fino-A-Laself, in purple, holds a basketball in his right hand. Paolo Banchero, across from him, takes in a deep breath and gets down into a defensive stance. From behind the image, a voice booms.
"Game point, ya'll!"
Safi doesn't acknowledge, Banchero gives a slight nod of his head. Safi lowers the ball to his waist, in both hands.
Jab step.
Jab.
Banchero adjusts.
Safi walks the ball to his right, Paolo shadows. Safi drives hard to his right, Banchero cuts him off, so Safi turns his back to the defender.
Post up.
Bodies collide and collide as Banchero is backed down by the more physical player. 15 feet from the basket Safi quick turns for a fade away, but Banchero never loses his man and swipes, knocking the ball loose. Scramble. Paolo grabs the ball and immediately shifts to the offensive, going by the flat footed MVP. Safi hunts him down. Banchero rises up near the basket to go for the layup. Safi launches into the air and blocks the shot. The teammates dive for the ground to gain control of the ball. Banchero gets there first and tries to get on his feet but Safi meets him and swipes the ball back.
Crossover. Step back 3.
Off the glass and in.
Game.
The voice behind the feed howls in excitement and the camera shakes with his movement like a sequel to The Bourne franchise. Banchero and Safi fist bump as they walk off the court and sit on either side of the camera.
The image flips, and Johnny Davis grins into the camera.
"Hey everyone, JD here to give ya'll a few minutes of our time. I'm sure you know these two gentlemen."
Camera quickly turns to Safi then Banchero, who both give a quick wave as they towel their faces.
"I know this isn't the normal way these things typically go. We're suppose to invite fans or media and let ya'll grill us. And believe me, I KNOW you guys all have some questions after this off-season."
Banchero's voice interrupts.
"And they wanted us to do the whole show too. Lights and banners and signs that said "YES. WE. DID." and pyro and fog." he shrugs. "But ..."
Safi cuts in next.
"I said no." He shakes his head. "There's nothing to celebrate."
Johnny nods in agreement.
"So, we're here continuing to work out the kinks that we saw during preseason instead. Still, we agreed to make some time to interact with ya'll like this. And we'll get to the part where we allow the questions to come in. First though, obviously I know the first thing on everyone's mind. Off the top, let me just say that I love Denver and all the fans who made my time there memorable. We played some good basketball during my time there and I'll always appreciate it. Going into this off-season, I wholeheartedly believed I'd go back. But then I got a phone call. An opportunity. I've played good basketball on good teams. I've never been on a GREAT team. Coming here with these two? With this management team, who consistently does everything in their power to win? I had to think long and hard."
"And welcome to Los Angeles."
"I'm here now, bottom line. I'm ready to be great."
Banchero slides closer to Davis to get into frame.
"This wasn't easy for any of us. Johnny to leave Denver. Safi and I to accept that we still needed help to get over the hump. To put this shit mildly, the past few seasons have been humbling."
"We needed to change, so we did." Safi is heard off-camera.
Banchero agrees by nodding.
Davis follows suit.
"So, good luck to my friends in Denver this season and beyond. Good luck to the Lakers players who left to make this happen. I know we're going to see Leroy Johnston again, for sure."
"And we'll miss you too Evan and Primo. Wish things would've ended for all of us in a more satisfying way. Just doesn't always work out that way."
"And we know there's a lot of folks that are going to hate the three of us after this. That's okay too. We're just here to play ball. To win, to grow together, and to go out and finally bring another championship to this city."
Now Safi slides into frame as well.
"And THAT ... is really all that matters to me."
Davis grins.
"But before we get back to work on all of that. Let's hear from ya'll. What do you really wanna know?"
Sent from my SM-F711U using Tapatalk
Safi Fino-A-Laself, in purple, holds a basketball in his right hand. Paolo Banchero, across from him, takes in a deep breath and gets down into a defensive stance. From behind the image, a voice booms.
"Game point, ya'll!"
Safi doesn't acknowledge, Banchero gives a slight nod of his head. Safi lowers the ball to his waist, in both hands.
Jab step.
Jab.
Banchero adjusts.
Safi walks the ball to his right, Paolo shadows. Safi drives hard to his right, Banchero cuts him off, so Safi turns his back to the defender.
Post up.
Bodies collide and collide as Banchero is backed down by the more physical player. 15 feet from the basket Safi quick turns for a fade away, but Banchero never loses his man and swipes, knocking the ball loose. Scramble. Paolo grabs the ball and immediately shifts to the offensive, going by the flat footed MVP. Safi hunts him down. Banchero rises up near the basket to go for the layup. Safi launches into the air and blocks the shot. The teammates dive for the ground to gain control of the ball. Banchero gets there first and tries to get on his feet but Safi meets him and swipes the ball back.
Crossover. Step back 3.
Off the glass and in.
Game.
The voice behind the feed howls in excitement and the camera shakes with his movement like a sequel to The Bourne franchise. Banchero and Safi fist bump as they walk off the court and sit on either side of the camera.
The image flips, and Johnny Davis grins into the camera.
"Hey everyone, JD here to give ya'll a few minutes of our time. I'm sure you know these two gentlemen."
Camera quickly turns to Safi then Banchero, who both give a quick wave as they towel their faces.
"I know this isn't the normal way these things typically go. We're suppose to invite fans or media and let ya'll grill us. And believe me, I KNOW you guys all have some questions after this off-season."
Banchero's voice interrupts.
"And they wanted us to do the whole show too. Lights and banners and signs that said "YES. WE. DID." and pyro and fog." he shrugs. "But ..."
Safi cuts in next.
"I said no." He shakes his head. "There's nothing to celebrate."
Johnny nods in agreement.
"So, we're here continuing to work out the kinks that we saw during preseason instead. Still, we agreed to make some time to interact with ya'll like this. And we'll get to the part where we allow the questions to come in. First though, obviously I know the first thing on everyone's mind. Off the top, let me just say that I love Denver and all the fans who made my time there memorable. We played some good basketball during my time there and I'll always appreciate it. Going into this off-season, I wholeheartedly believed I'd go back. But then I got a phone call. An opportunity. I've played good basketball on good teams. I've never been on a GREAT team. Coming here with these two? With this management team, who consistently does everything in their power to win? I had to think long and hard."
"And welcome to Los Angeles."
"I'm here now, bottom line. I'm ready to be great."
Banchero slides closer to Davis to get into frame.
"This wasn't easy for any of us. Johnny to leave Denver. Safi and I to accept that we still needed help to get over the hump. To put this shit mildly, the past few seasons have been humbling."
"We needed to change, so we did." Safi is heard off-camera.
Banchero agrees by nodding.
Davis follows suit.
"So, good luck to my friends in Denver this season and beyond. Good luck to the Lakers players who left to make this happen. I know we're going to see Leroy Johnston again, for sure."
"And we'll miss you too Evan and Primo. Wish things would've ended for all of us in a more satisfying way. Just doesn't always work out that way."
"And we know there's a lot of folks that are going to hate the three of us after this. That's okay too. We're just here to play ball. To win, to grow together, and to go out and finally bring another championship to this city."
Now Safi slides into frame as well.
"And THAT ... is really all that matters to me."
Davis grins.
"But before we get back to work on all of that. Let's hear from ya'll. What do you really wanna know?"
Sent from my SM-F711U using Tapatalk