January 25, 2021 - The Athletic's Law Murray on the Clippers, Paul George, NBA internet culture and SNL

The Late Night Happy Hour with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

The Late Night Happy Hour welcomes The Athletic's Law Murray (@LawMurrayTheNU), who covers the Clippers, to the show for a look at the COVID protocols hitting the LAC, the changing roles for Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, Ty Lue's impact, and much, much more.

But we start with coronavirus putting the Clippers' stars on the sidelines for at least a few games as they've been placed in the NBA's contact tracing protocol. Is this a reality that's coming for every team, even those managing to avoid problems so far? Law thinks so.

He wrote a story about Paul George, who spoke at length about the fun he's having with point-forward, offense orchestrating responsibilities given to him by Lue. Are the Clips really enjoying themselves? Or is it a matter of trying to project a fun vibe, given the discord and turmoil of last season? And what about Kawhi as a leader? How has the dynamic shifted with the Clippers? Do they need a "public face," so to speak?

Nic Batum! What an impact he's made.

From there, we get into NBA culture. Law goes back to the old TrueHoop days, and has seen the evolution in NBA media. It's a different deal than other sports... how has it impacted the game? He makes a some great points about the influence of star culture on the game, and the way we talk about it, including the creation of heels and heroes, putting real people in roles they may not be comfortable with.

Finally, Law is an expert on Saturday Night Live. Historian levels of knowledge. We break down some of the bigger questions around the show. How does it survive in a post-Trump world? What does it mean for the show to be more about social media consumption than TV ratings? What are his favorite sketches and musical acts?

An awesome 80 minutes.