Welcome
Journeys can be thrilling, terrifying, and everything in between. This will be some combination of a whole bunch of those feelings.
If you Google Kobe Bryant quotes about fatherhood, you likely aren’t going to come across the one that helped get me through the last couple months. If you can find it, please pass it along in the comments because I apparently also suck at Googling stuff.
Essentially, he said his daughters helped keep him centered because they didn’t care about how he performed on any given night. All that mattered was that the game ended and they could have their dad again. He could drop 81 or struggle to throw a pea in the ocean, all that mattered was daddy was off work.
Recently, Anthony Davis shared an adorable story about his daughter drawing him a rainbow as he dealt with once again landing on the disabled list. Hilariously, he mentioned that she may have just done so because she loves drawing rainbows that much, but to him, the drawing signified the ending of his latest injury nightmare.
Children are incredible because simultaneously they lack perspective but also manage to understand the concept better than their adult counterparts as the soul-crushing trivialities life all too often mask what really matters.
When things are going well in this maddening industry, as they were as a full-time Vox employee with a family benefit plan, it’s easy to wrap up your identity with that relative success. My first check ever for any kind of sports content was $23.86 and all of a sudden I had a full-on salary. I was on top of the world with any number of possibilities in front of me.
Then, it all ended in an email I received with Avery and Myles in the car as I was treating her (Myles is still to young for donuts though you couldn’t tell based on his size) to Krispy Kreme that morning. In an instant I went from having it all figured out to wondering if I should grab the receipt and try to return the donuts.
(I didn’t return the donuts. I was jobless, not a monster)
The whole ride home, I found myself looking into the rear view, where my kids could obviously be seen but where my career also resided. It was crushing. They rely on me. Avery just started preschool. Myles has his checkups. What the hell am I going to do?
“Daddy, c’I have donut?”
“What? Oh, yeah. Duh.”
Avery didn’t care about the email I received in line at Krispy Kreme. She could care less about the phone calls I had just made to share the news (well, minus getting really excited about hearing mama in the car speakers). All that mattered to her was the chocolate sprinkle donut I was keeping from her while I raced through scenarios of what comes next.
In my haste to provide I forgot to, you know, provide.
The point of all of this isn’t just to show off my incredible parenting. It really is a mission statement in this latest endeavor. My thoughts on the Lakers have provided quite a bit for my family, but they don’t define me. So yes, there are going to be plenty of thoughts on the Lakers here, and that will make up the majority of the content on this page, but I also want to explore all kinds of topics with you.
So let’s get down to brass tacks. Here’s the plan for this page:
Plenty of shorter form reactions to news about the Lakers with tidbits of information I can add as context. I’m still an aggregator at heart, after all.
Bi-weekly columns on the Lakers or NBA at-large (and how that topic affects the Lakers.
Occasional bonus columns on, well, anything
I love TV of all sorts, so get ready for some reactions to Succession, Mandalorian, Ted Lasso, *cough* Love Is Blind, and anything in-between.
My first sports love was actually the Dodgers, so yeah, probably going to dip into some of that, too.
Industry thoughts. There’s a lot going on in this weird space and sometimes I like to think out loud about it.
All kinds of other stuff.
Podcasts.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, Lakers Lounge is living on. That feed will be uploaded here as well as every other podcast platform.
For Substack specifically, The Anthony Irwin Show will be where you can find conversations on topics that capture my mind. It does tend to wander, so fair warning on that.
Audio columns. Just as before at Silver Screen, the plan is to narrate columns and the occasional reaction piece here as an exclusive benefit to subscribers.
If you’re still here, just know that your loyalty and support means the world to me. I plan to make good on that commitment with every post I write, with every pod I record. Sure, Avery and Myles don’t care if I don’t exactly bring it every so often, but you do, and I will do my absolute best to continue to earn your trust.