Lakers: Talen Horton-Tucker’s hilarious solution to being too young to drink

Talen Horton-Tucker cannot drink wine with his Los Angeles Lakers teammates.

It is well-noted that Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is a wine enthusiast. LeBron has not shied away from sharing his appreciation for a fine vino and that appreciation definitely extends to his Laker teammates.

Drinking wine together is one of the ways that the Lakers have bonded while being isolated in the Orlando bubble. The Lakers enjoy a nice glass of wine together on the off-days (perhaps while playing their Madden tournament, which Quinn Cook won).

There is one problem, though — not everyone on the Los Angeles Lakers is 21 years old. Rookie guard Talen Horton-Tucker is only 19 years olds (and turns 20 in November). He has another year-plus until he can legally drink some Chardonnay with LBJ but that has not stopped him from bonding with him teammates.

So what does Talen-Horton Tucker drink?

Horton-Tucker revealed his drink of choice while the rest of the team drinks wine in an interview with Marc Spears of The Undefeated.

"“They drink a lot of wine. I don’t drink that. But I can still be around,” Horton-Tucker said. “They can drink their wine and give me an orange juice. I just like sitting around, listening and taking anything in. It can be from basketball to video games. I’m a sponge with everybody.”"

I have to appreciate the drink of choice. Orange juice is a natural treasure that should be appreciated by everyone. I do have a few questions, though.

How much pulp is THT drinking? Is he drinking Donald Duck orange juice at Disney World (he should be, Donald Duck orange juice is the GOAT)? Does he drink the orange juice out of a wine glass?

There definitely were other options. Perhaps he could have popped open some Pellegrino, another Italian delicacy. He could have opted for grape juice, just to stay consistent with his teammates. Or he could have popped open some non-alcoholic wine, which to be honest, I didn’t know existed until today.

Regardless, the idea of the Lakers passing around a very expensive bottle of wine and enjoying the fruits of their labor (pun intended) while THT goes to the team fridge to grab his carton of orange juice is a hilarious visual to imagine.

At least THT was willing to share this story without shame. Let’s not forget what happened when a reporter asked a 19-year-old Bryce Harper if he would take advantage of Canada’s 19-year-old drinking age while in Toronto.