The Los Angeles Lakers are known for their celebrity fans, and one of the biggest is Snoop Dogg. Big Snoop grew up in Long Beach and has been a Lakers fan since birth, and this morning he appeared on First Take to share his opinions on how far he thinks the Lakers can go now that they’ve evened their first-round series with the Minnesota Timberwolves at a game apiece. Unsurprisingly, Snoop is high (no pun intended) on the purple and gold’s chances.
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Snoop joked that he only agreed to appear on First Take in the first place because the Lakers bounced back by winning last night in a game that was, in many ways, the complete opposite of Game 1. The Lakers allowed only five made threes in Game 2, compared to 21 in Game 1. They held the Wolves to six fast-break points after giving up 25 the first time around, and they even won the rebounding battle.
Stephen A. Smith asked Snoop about how far he thinks his Lakers can go this postseason, having added Luka Doncic alongside LeBron James. He replied, “I think they can go all the way.” The response left Smith shocked, who asked him if he thinks the Lakers can beat OKC, to which Snoop said he believes the Clippers will take them down in Round 2.
Snoop was asked which team he trusted more to get out of the second round between the Lakers and Warriors, and though he said that the Lakers have a more difficult matchup in the Wolves than the Warriors have in the Rockets, he expected both teams to advance and meet in the Western Conference semis.
Once there, the D.O. Double G likes his Lakers to get past Golden State. “I like that matchup. They’re overconfident right now because they hit us last time.” Snoop is referring to the last time the two teams met, a 123-116 Golden State win at Crypto.com Arena that featured 37 points and MVP chants for the visiting Steph Curry.
The Warriors have been one of the hottest teams in the league ever since trading for Jimmy Butler, but Snoop believes that will all come to an end when they have to face Luka Doncic and LeBron James in a seven-game series. “I think a burn-out is coming,” he told Stephen A. Smith, because they’ve had to push so hard to even make the postseason since getting Butler.
Snoop Dogg has some spicy NBA postseason takes
Snoop may sound like he has some hometown bias when he says that the Lakers can get all the way to the NBA Finals, but it’s not like he picked chalk in the rest of the bracket. He surprised Stephen A., Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, and Molly Qerim when he said that he thinks the Clippers will beat the Nuggets and upset the Thunder, clearing an easier path for the more famous L.A. squad to get through the West.
“I’m more confident in the Lakers, but I need the Clippers to go out and handle our dirty work for us,” Snoop said. If it ended up being an all-L.A. Western Conference Finals, he promised that he’d even bring Mad Dog with him to the game, and he even busted out a freestyle rhyme as proof. “You with me, VIP. Last name Doggy, gets in free” he told a delighted Russo.
Stephen A. gave the Lakers a puncher’s chance to come out of the West due to Luka and LeBron, but he said they “have no chance in hell of beating the Boston Celtics” if Boston comes out of the East. That hypothetical matchup, though it’s still far away from potentially happening, would be the 13th time the NBA’s two flagship franchises have met in the Finals, by far more than anyone else.
Snoop’s appearance was a lot of fun for all involved, but this isn’t the first time that First Take has gotten a bit ahead of themselves. The Lakers need to keep their full attention on Anthony Edwards and the Wolves just to get out of the first round, as even after last night’s win, they still have given up home-court advantage. Game 3 will take place Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
