CE: What made you get involved in sports journalism?

TL: I was interested in writing and decided to write about a topic I love, which is sports and Lakers basketball specifically. I volunteered to host the Lakers Nation Podcast, which eventually made its way to our YouTube channel and has grown tremendously over the years. While I rarely write now since I focus most of my attention on video and audio, the way I composed editorials is actually very similar to how I compose a video segment. Ultimately, sports was already a passion of mine and I wanted to turn that passion into a career.

CE: As of right now, who would you pick as the NBA M.V.P and why?

TL: I think you can make a solid case for MVP for 3 players: Giannis, Jokic, and Embiid. It’s extremely close but I’d go with Embiid to just barely beat the other two.

CE: What is the ceiling for the Lakers in the playoffs?

TL: The ceiling for the Lakers is a championship. I wouldn’t say that result is likely, but given how well they have played since the trade deadline it can’t be ruled out. They are a totally different team than the pre-trade deadline group, so I’m not putting any weight on what they did prior to making their moves.

CE: Is there a team in either conference that could be a sleeper in the postseason?

TL: With the Suns’ big acquisition of Kevin Durant I think the Nuggets are actually getting slept in a bit despite being the top seed in the West. Same goes for Memphis, who has been playing really good basketball lately. In the East I think there is a clear top 3 in the Bucks, Celtics, and 76ers, but I’m not counting out the Cavs.

CE: Any advance for someone looking to be a sports journalist?

TL: Really think about whether or not you love sports. If you don’t have that passion for it I wouldn’t advise going down this path. It’s a grind where you have to put in countless hours with no guarantee of any kind of success. If you truly love it, though, that grind, while exhausting at times, just feels different.