LeBron James hits the HBO airwaves with episode 2 of “The Shop”

HBO aired the second episode of the LeBron James vehicle, “The Shop” and we break it down here at the Lake Show Life.

We here at Lake Show Life needs to do an investigation on if LeBron James gets any sleep!

LeBron James, as you now know, had a talk show launch, “The Shop” on HBO last month. The half-hour series is probably the only project that you will probably see James in the forefront, more talking about things that are on his mind.

He is already serving as the Executive Producer to a three-part documentary on Showtime called “Shut Up and Dribble” set to debut in October. The title is a brilliant play on words used by Fox News host Laura Ingraham to try and shut him up about talking politics earlier this year in February.

The show is centered around James, who chats with celebrity guests about sports, politics, race relations, parenthood and other topics that include…let me take a second look here, yep, BROADWAY MUSICALS!

If you look deeper, it is extremely smart and it does shine the light on the discussions that really occur in a barber shop. Plus, it allows exposure to barbershops across the country with all of the productions and tapings being done in different shops. The first episode was taped in West Hollywood’s Barber Surgeons Guild.

For the wrap up of the premiere of the show check it out here…

LeBron James Adds Talk Show Host to His Resume!

LeBron James comes to LA and puts the Lakers on the map. LeBron James comes to LA to put his TV projects on the map. Can he? Ronald Agers checks it out!

LeBron James‘ debut episode brought in the likes of rappers Snoop Dogg and Vince Staples, Jerrod Carmichael, Draymond Green of the World Champion Golden State Warriors (…guess they got over the Finals incident huh?)…

and newly minted rich New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Wrapping up the guest list is former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart and the lovely Candace Parker of the Los Angeles Sparks.

The one thing I can definitely say about LeBron James is that he knows his core audience and his demographics. The juiciest parts to this show (I guess…) was the in-depth talk he had with Drake about his beef with Pusha-T and how Kanye West played a part in how it all got started.

Sidebar here: Does Kanye West do anything that stays out of the news or irritates anybody?

Anyway, before I get sidetracked, it seems that Pusha T said some things that Drake found inappropriate…

https://twitter.com/Complex/status/1050931230257152000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1050931230257152000&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theringer.com%2Fmusic%2F2018%2F10%2F13%2F17972688%2Fdrake-lebron-james-the-shop-hbo-kanye-west-pusha-t

For the record, I am showing my age and I am not going to filter out this beef. Lake Show Life is about basketball and we will get in my realm in a few seconds. Drake talked about all aspects of fatherhood in his life (…his pops, being a father) even down to haircuts. To the ones who care (because I have no clue how to explain this!) the Kanye situation…

You know, it’s funny…LeBron James is slowly but surely becoming a Hollywood star. But his star is becoming more and more unique. With his wildly successful production company that is spawning projects seemingly every week, this shows that he can relate to the older generation and hold his own in business by surrounding himself with the right people.

At the same time, James can morph himself and get down with the millennial generation…

https://twitter.com/RodeoTheAlbum/status/1051414037202968578

So when Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball and the other young players ask if LeBron copped that Drake album…he can say I don’t need to.

Yes Lakers fans, there was some basketball talk in there as well.

LeBron James talked about one massive challenge overcome that turned out to be his “greatest accomplishment…

"“It was 2011,” James said on his HBO show “The Shop,” pointing to his first season with the Heat. “Yeah, I mean, I had seven great seasons, eight great seasons. Went to Miami my first year and thought it would be easy, you know what I’m saying? I knew I had to still work hard. But I thought it would be easy because I was teaming up with some guys that was, you know, some real players.”"

Well, I guess the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers roster will enjoy hearing that. After a tumultuous season that had James wearing a hat as black as the Heat uniforms, the Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in six games.

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Remembering that series, let’s be clear here, LeBron James was terrible. I give him a ton of credit for owning it. At that time, LeBron James did not have a legitimate post move to go to in crunch time.

The Mavericks used that knowledge and had the savvy veteran Jason Kidd guard him down the stretch. Plus with that zone defense the Mavericks used throughout the series, James was completely out of it by then.

More from James about the loss…

"“You know, you go down there and that first year we lose that Finals and I was like … it felt like the world had caved in,” James said. “You know, first of all, I was wearing a hat that I wasn’t accustomed to. And I bought into it because I, at that point of time in my life I was still caring about what other people thought. But that moment right there, that moment shaped me for who I am today. Like that moment, without that moment I wouldn’t be here.”"

Boy, he was right about that one. You see the assistant coach who set up the defense to stop LeBron James then was Dwane Casey. Yeah, the head coach of the Toronto Raptors LAST YEAR!

Casey tried to use the same defensive scheme the Mavs used in 2011. If we all remember what James did to the Raptors last year in that shocking sweep, you get the impression that there was definite growth from the experience of that devastating loss…

He then used that failure as a motivating tool to be the player that he is today.

"“In the sense of you know you could have done better. And, you know, after that Finals, man, I was just like, that’s never happening again. I may lose again. I may not win everything. But I will never, I will never fail at anything.”"

The season starts on Thursday LeBron! Your next challenge starts against the Portland Trail Blazers on the road. So after you recover from this…

Get some sleep!

The Los Angeles Lakers have started their long journey (FINALLY!!!) through the NBA season. Lake Show Life will be there every step of the way. Continue to check in for Lakers news, previews and reviews.