RIGHT after (gently) ripping into LeBron’s former teammate and now newly minted Laker Dion Waiters, Rico Blanco checked himself and said with a laugh, “This is the most Skip Bayless-like statement that I’ve made.”
After all, the rock star and longtime basketball fan didn’t mince words when it came to Waiters. “Sa eye test ko lang, sablay pare,” he said. “Ang tingin ba ni Waiters, siya si Michael Jordan?”
He added: “He needs a reality check and play to his skills.”
Dion was only one of the many topics Blanco covered in the Lakers-centric seventh episode of his new live talk show called “Ang Dakilang Miron.” (He calls it the “number one sports show sa puso ng nanay at tatay ko.”) The musician began the show during the NBA restart, and has been consistently uploading new livestreams on his Facebook and YouTube pages.
The episode was streamed late yesterday night, as the Lakers were reeling from back-to-back bubble losses.
The ex-Rivermaya frontman was worried for his favored team, struggling mightily at the restart. This is how he summed up their bubble games: “Nag-umpisa, sobrang solid, tapos biglang, ano ba yun, tapos parang walang energy, tapos okay, bumanat si AD, tas walang kwenta na naman.”
To help him dissect what’s ailing the Lake Show, he called on his first guest ever for the show — Miggy Chavez, vocalist for Chicosci and fellow Lakers fan.
The pair hashed out their thoughts on the Lake Show’s biggest question marks, including the load management of star player LeBron James.
At the time the show was aired, James had sat out their most recent game, a 97-113 clunker against the Rockets.
Chavez said, “Tumatanda na si LeBron. I know it looks ridiculous that these top class athletes have to manage their loads, but I guess they don’t want to risk anything.”
He added: “Kung ang kapalit is a healthy roster come playoff time, dun na lang ako.”
Blanco revealed his skepticism of the whole concept, recalling his surprise eight years ago when San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich began resting his star Spurs against Miami Heat in a nationally televised game in 2012 — and was fined $250,000 for his troubles.
“That really shocked me,” he said.
Always the musician, Rico Blanco believed that frequent benching robs a team of rhythm.
Nevertheless, he appreciates the chemistry that the Lakers have forged for themselves in this 2019-2020 season.
He framed it from the perspective of LeBron. “He’s not a natural alpha,” went Blanco’s assessment. “Pinilit na lang siya maging alpha because of all his success. But gusto niya ng may dogs e. That’s why he really liked Dwyane Wade and JR Smith. And I think you have a lot of those in this Lakers team.”
For his part, Chavez was just glad that the Lakers had, against all odds, emerged as a championship contender this year.
“Coming from Bobby Sacre years, all the Kendall Marshall years, it’s nice to think na baka kayan natin ‘to,” he said.
By the end of the show, both rock stars had assured themselves that the Lakers would somehow pull through.
“We shouldn't get worried,” said Rico as the show wrapped up.
Looks like they spoke too soon. Just this morning, LeBron and the top-ranked Lakers fell to the red-hot TJ Warren and the Indiana Pacers, 111-116, making it the LA squad’s third straight loss in a row.
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