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Welcome to The Popcorn Machine, the new regular podcast here on Lakers.com where we’ll talk to Lakers players, coaches and broadcasters, national and local media members, random celebrities and even some fans as the Lakers march towards the only goal the franchise sets … A championship.|
Episode #15: Ronnie Lester Published October 7th, 2009 | Length: 36:46 | Size: 17.7 MB 
Lakers assistant general manager Ronnie Lester joined us to discuss the impact of a knee injury suffered after two All-America seasons at Iowa as a player, what it was like to play against Magic Johnson’s Michigan State team, Michael Jordan’s impact on the scouting industry, Kobe Bryant’s legendary workout as a 17-year old and more.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #14: Doris Burke Published August 19th, 2009 | Length: 28:38 | Size: 13.3 MB 
ESPN basketball analyst and reporter Doris Burke - who handled sideline duties for the Lakers during ABC’s broadcast of the 2009 NBA Finals - came onto the Popcorn Machine to discuss Kobe, Fish and Phil, gender in sports reporting and how central her hoops past (Providence College Hall of Famer) is to doing her job well.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #13: Matt Kemp Published August 7th, 2009 | Length: 14:24 | Size: 6.7 MB 
From the dugout at Dodger Stadium, centerfielder Matt Kemp detailed his basketball past, speculated about Lamar Odom's baseball prospects (the lanky lefty fancies himself a pitcher), figured Jordan Farmar would be the Lakers' best baseball player and gave us his top five musical artists as compared to those of Josh Powell and Shannon Brown. Kemp then went 4-for-5 with a home run, five RBIs and three runs as L.A. beat Milwaukee 17-4.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #12: Josh Powell Published July 21st, 2009 | Length: 26:28 | Size: 12.5 MB 
Josh Powell’s journey to the Lakers was a long one. In fact, he’d focused more on football and baseball as a child before growing five inches as a freshman in high school and turning his focus to the hardcourt, eventually earning a scholarship to NC State. Yet he went undrafted after his sophomore year, heading not to the NBA but to Russia, Italy, and some domestic leagues about which you’ve never heard. Here’s how Powell described his hoops path in his own words. For more info on Powell path, click here.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #11: Matthew Berry Published July 2nd, 2009 | Length: 45:30 | Size: 20.9 MB 
After a slight playoff hiatus, the Popcorn Machine returns with ESPN’s Matthew Berry (The Talented Mr. Roto, read his latest Love/Hate column here), who happens to be a big time Lakers fan and season ticket holder since the Forum days. We tried to figure out L.A.’s All-Time starting five, chatted about celebs in STAPLES Center and talked about how many great years the 30-year-old Kobe Bryant has left. Check him out on Twitter too.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #10: Jeanie Buss Published May 21st, 2009 | Length: 27:59 | Size: 12.9 MB 
Lakers Executive Vice President of Business Operations Jeanie Buss joined us to talk about the courtside celebrities at STAPLES Center, her new twitter account, playing scrabble and watching “American Idol” with Phil Jackson and more.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #9: Alex McKechnie Published April 30th, 2009 | Length: 18:46 | Size: 8.7 MB 
Lakers Athletic Performance Coordinator Alex McKechnie came to the Lakers during the 1997-98 season to work on Shaquille O’Neal’s abdominal tear, and was so effective that the Lakers couldn’t let him go. We talked to McKechnie about “Core-X,” the athletic training device that he invented and which many of the Lakers use on a daily basis, and also talked about his specific role within L.A.’s training staff.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #8: Lisa Estrada Published April 23rd, 2009 | Length: 30:16 | Size: 14 MB 
Lisa Estrada’s the Los Angeles Lakers Director of Game Operations and Entertainment, running the show you see at STAPLES Center throughout the season. She’s also the longtime director of the Laker Girls … And a former Laker Girl herself. Basically, we had lots to talk about on the Popcorn Machine.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #7: Dave McMenamin Published April 14th, 2009 | Length: 29:27 | Size: 13.7 MB 
Compiling winning seasons has left L.A. with just one lottery pick in the last 15 years: Andrew Bynum (2005). Since the Lakers don’t know much about high-profile rookies, we brought in NBA.com’s Dave McMenamin, who has been tracking the league’s kids throughout the season. We talked O.J. Mayo vs. Brook Lopez, FGA’s vs. PER and more. For more McMenamin click here.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #6: Kevin Harlan Published April 7th, 2009 | Length: 29:15 | Size: 13.5 MB 
Sandwiched in between his play-by-play of the NCAA Tournament and TNT’s “40 Games in 40 Nights,” broadcaster Kevin Harlan joined us to talk about his memories of Chick Hearn, the differences between calling national/local and college/pro games, his broadcast partners and favorite restaurants on the road.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #5: Shannon Brown Published March 31, 2009 | Length: 15:18 | Size: 7.2 MB 
With his six-month old son Shannon Christopher in his lap, Lakers guard Shannon Brown talked to us about his Final Four bound Michigan State Spartans, detailing his time and experience playing under head coach Tom Izzo at MSU.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #4: Luke Walton Published March 25, 2009 | Length: 32:26 | Size: 15.1 MB 
Lakers forward Luke Walton stepped into the Popcorn Machine to talk about lacking any fashion sense until getting got the NBA, playing 2-on-2 with his dad, brother Nate and his hoops idol Larry Bird, his eating habits (Mexican food, please) and learning how to drive a car as a 13-year old in Tijuana.DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #3: March Madness, Luke Winn Published March 18, 2009 | Length: 14:41 | Size: 6.7 MB 
For a special NCAA Tournament edition of The Popcorn Machine, we enlisted Sports Illustrated senior college hoops writer Luke Winn to break down the chances for the teams of various Lakers players: Jordan Farmar & Trevor Ariza (UCLA); Luke Walton (Arizona); Shannon Brown (Michigan State); Adam Morrison (Gonzaga) and Kobe Bryant (Duke/Syracuse) . DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #2: Chip Schaefer Published March 17, 2009 | Length: 37:13 | Size: 34.1 MB 
Lakers Director of Athletic Performance and Player Development Chip Schaefer has nine rings ... So that’s pretty good. Having spent eight years with the Chicago Bulls as Phil Jackson’s head athletic trainer and now 10 years with the Lakers, Schaefer’s seen more of Phil, Michael, Scottie, Kobe and Shaq than almost anybody.Schaefer talked about his time with those Hall of Famers, described the changing role of sports medicine over his career, explained exactly what he and L.A.’s training staff do to keep the Lakers as healthy as possible and more. DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes Episode #1: Stu Lantz Published March 10, 2009 | Length: 25:40 | Size: 23.5 MB 
With whom else could we possibly start the “Popcorn Machine” than Chick Hearn’s longtime partner and current Lakers TV analyst Stu Lantz, who stopped by our Popcorn studios to identify a series of “Chick-isms,” relay memories of his time with the voice of the Lakers and to describe his own broadcasting path. DOWNLOAD MP3 | SUBSCRIBE | iTunes |
Why "Popcorn Machine"? Among the famous phrases and plays on words that the legendary Lakers broadcaster stamped into basketball lore was our favorite … the “Popcorn Machine.” By Hearn’s definition, someone was put in the popcorn machine when a player was faked so badly out of position that he ended up in the arena’s lobby (where there was often a popcorn machine in old arenas) as the offensive player was left wide open. His hapless defender would generally come down with “salt and butter all over him.” Alas, salt and butter are two things that we’ll keep in mind throughout each and every interview that appears on the Popcorn Machine. |
