The Los Angeles Lakers welcome Kendrick Lamar as part of "genius series"

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – The day after the victory in their first game in Portland, the Los Angeles Lakers gathered in their movie theater and listened to a Pulitzer Prize winner speak to their team about sacrifices, preparation and the liberation of negativity.

Kendrick Lamar, the first rapper to win the Pulitzer for music, visited the Lakers on their team's premises Friday as part of their "Genius Series". Managing Director Rob Pelinka began last year when the team invited some of the most successful people from different industries to meet with her throughout the season.

Lamar was scheduled to talk to the team last year, but a time conflict delayed him until Friday.

"It's funny because sometimes you do not talk to other people who are at the top of their art and when you talk to them, you see the parallels," said Lakers guard Josh Hart. "When he gets ready for a show, he lets out all the negativity.He does not party.He does not do certain things before shows because he wants to be composed [in], he wants to be focused so that he can get his message across on this show and for the people who pay the money to see it. "

The conversation between Lamar and the Lakers took place less than 24 hours after the team's loss to Portland (128-119) and less than 24 hours before LeBron James made his regular season debut at Staples Center as Laker against the Houston Rockets on Saturday.

"There are so many parallels between artists like Kendrick in the music industry, actors, etc.," added Hart. "The guys who hold him responsible in his own profession, that he does a show, that he works in the newsstand on a song, on an album."

Last season, the Lakers mingled with speakers such as actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Elsa Musk, President and CEO of SpaceX, Hollywood heavyweight Jeffrey Katzenberg and Olympic champion and world champion Allyson Felix to share their secrets of success.

James, recently invited to the Drake concert with rapper Travis Scott on the Staples Center stage, often surrounds himself with some of the most successful people in the world and takes advantage of every opportunity.

"I'm just lucky and honored to be in the same room as some of the greatest specialists in their respective fields," James said recently. "C & # 39; [comedian Dave] Chappelle and [rappers Jay-Z] and Drake. I had the opportunity to talk with Barack Obama and I was in the Oval Office. I was on stage with him before. I look at myself sometimes and say that I am only a child of Akron and that I am able to rub shoulders with people who will be known forever, even after their years of existence. It's just a cool thing. "

On the same day, when Lakers coach Luke Walton preached attention to detail, Lamar also spoke of similar principles to succeed.

"When he's working on an album before it's released, six months before he starts, he starts to understand how he wants the dialogue to unfold, how he wants the listener to react," Hart said. "Obviously, we are not going into the booth to put bars in. I think some of us can, but that is the mentality in which we have to get in. C & # 39; is the mentality of playing our roles, of sacrificing ourselves as a team.

"He talked about [how] Hart does not party before concerts, "Hart said," Going out there sacrificing yourself, holding each other responsible and forming a team – it's not just an individual. He said that he is one of the guys at the top of the music industry, it's not me, it's because of this guy, this guy this guy is because of his team. These were some of the parallels. Obviously, we will have to change a bit, but we can relate to ourselves and our profession. "