Los Angeles Lakers call on Denzel Washington to revive spirits after two consecutive defeats



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LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers lost two consecutive games – the latest being a loss of 32 points from Denver – they turned to coach Herman Boone of TC Williams High School to give them a speech. # 39; encouragement.

Anyway, the actor who played Boone, the football coach in "Remember the Titans". Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka regularly invites renowned speakers from the entertainment and other industries, and Denzel Washington was the last guest of his "Genius series" on Wednesday. His message arrived at a fortuitous moment.

"It's great," said Luke Walton, Lakers coach, Thursday. "People are frustrated and angry after this kind of games, so you bring in someone like Denzel, and he talks about what he's talking about, he's doing a good job of reviving spirits."

Walton said the 63-year-old's message delivered a welcome point of view to his team, ages 11 to 9, hosting the Indiana Pacers on Thursday.

"Be kind to people, be grateful for what we have," said Walton, paraphrasing Washington's speech. "Start each day by being humble and grateful for the life we ​​lead and use the blessings we have to help others."

Washington is often seated at Staples Center, in front of the Lakers bench, and played college basketball at Fordham, where he was coached by former NBA coach and current ESPN analyst, PJ Carlesimo. . He inspired LeBron James to share part of the Oscar winner's message on his Instagram account.

James said that Washington, to whom he presented Wednesday the team, gave him an African-American uniform when he grew up with Will Smith and Dave Chappelle.

"I grew up watching these guys," James said. "I grew up admiring these guys, admiring their talent, wanting to look like some of the characters that they describe either in TV shows, in movies, or in stand-up. that just comes back .. I appreciate these guys and thank them more than they do not know.

"They did not know that they were inspiring a kid from Akron, Ohio. These guys are in Los Angeles to shoot movies and TV shows or are on tour, they do skits and things like that, so that's what it comes down to And where I grew up, the only real inspirations are, in reality, the drug traffickers.These are the only inspirations you have where I grew up, and, thank God, I was inspired by people who did it right, and not in the wrong way. "

James said choosing a favorite Washington film would be like choosing his favorite Jay-Z album, but listed a few that he preferred: "Man on Fire", "Remember the Titans", "John Q "," Training Day "and" He had a game "because" everyone wanted to be Jesus Shuttlesworth growing up, for me, personally, I did it. "

Washington joins a panel of distinguished speakers to visit the Lakers, including Pulitzer Prize-winning hip-hop artist, Kendrick Lamar, Dwayne's "The Rock" Johnson, Tesla and SpaceX President Elon Musk, Hollywood heavyweight Jeffrey Katzenberg and sprinter Allyson, Olympic champion and world champion. Félix

Like Lamar, Washington met the team immediately after a tough defeat – Lamar spoke with the Lakers the day after their defeat in Portland – but Walton said it was just a coincidence.

"They are programmed earlier because they are [speakers] have very busy schedules, "said Walton. He has just passed heavy losses. It's not like: "Difficult loss, let's bring Denzel. It is in speed dialing mode. "

Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN contributed to this report.

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