The Los Angeles Lakers signed Andre Drummond after he was bought out by the Cleveland Cavaliers and they would like to keep him long-term despite their cap limitations.

"They have been so committed to him being the ceremonial starter," said Dave McMenamin of Drummond on The Lowe Post. "And obviously he gets more than just ceremonial minutes. That seems to be something that is important to Drummond, which makes it important to the Lakers' front office because they have signaled to everyone listening, 'This isn't just a half a season buyout market rental. Andre Drummond is part of the future moving forward with this franchise.'

"That's always a tough one though. When you are trying to make moves to think about the future rather than win in the moment, it's hard to do both simultaneously as well as you possibly can."

The Lakers would need to use the taxpayer's Mid-Level Exception to sign Drummond in the offseason. The Lakers also have Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell at center while Anthony Davis typically plays center in their best lineups. 

Anthony Davis is unlikely to play in Game 5 due to a strained groin. Davis sustained the injury during the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers' Game 4 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

There is optimism about the status of Davis, however, as the series continues beyond Game 5.

Davis will continue to be evaluated day-to-day. 

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We catch up on Sunday’s action, with the Clippers seemingly figuring out the Mavs, yet another crazy health turn in Lakers/Suns giving LA their first test in the AD era, Atlanta throttling the Knicks, and Brooklyn putting on one of the best offensive performances in NBA playoff history.

Then Saturday’s action, Utah taking control with a big late run vs Memphis, Portland evening up as Jusuf Nurkic outplays Nikola Jokic, and merciful ends to Miami/Milwaukee and Washington/Philadelphia.

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With host Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA). And if you like this pod, please donate to support Nate and Danny at Patreon.com/DuncanLeroux. Merchandise available at NateDuncanNBA.com.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul defeated Barcelona 86-81 to win the 2021 Euroleague championship.

Vasilije Micic was named MVP of the Final Four. Micic also was named MVP of the Euroleague regular season. 

Micic will join the Oklahoma City Thunder next season.

LeBron James is unapologetic about "The Decision" and he believes it helped other athletes take control of their careers.

“You are always going to have people that are not going to agree with something that you do, but at the end of the day they can’t stop you, and can’t stop your path, and can’t stop your journey," James told Isaac Chotiner of The New Yorker. "I am happy that I was able to fall on the sword for the rest of these athletes, men and women, to be able to feel empowered.”

Rich Paul saw a lot of the response to James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat in 2010 as racist, calling out Bill Simmons for his comments.

“I blame the people around him. I blame the lack of a father figure in his life,” Simmons, then a leading columnist at ESPN, wrote. “I blame us for feeding his narcissism to the point that he referred to himself in the third person five times in forty-five minutes. I blame local and national writers (including myself) for apparently not doing a good enough job explaining to athletes like LeBron what sports mean to us, and how it IS a marriage, for better and worse, and that we’re much more attached to these players and teams than they realize.”

“That’s why I don’t speak to Bill Simmons,” Paul said. “A lot of that has to do with race, too. He wouldn’t have said that about Larry Bird. He wouldn’t have said that about J. J. Redick. You get what I am saying? ‘The Decision’ ten years ago is the norm today. It’s what everyone wants to do. Kids won’t even decide where they go to college without it being a big production, and Bill Simmons says some shit like that.”

In a lengthy New Yorker profile on Rich Paul, a general manager speaks about the player empowerment era as an issue that goes beyond the NBA's best players choosing where they want to play.

“Player empowerment is a catchall for the fact that the league has done a terrible job of empowering teams,” a current NBA general manager told The New Yorker's Isaac Chotiner. “The players have all of the leverage in every situation. I think it’s the worst thing that ever happened to professional sports on all levels.”

Chotiner, however, follows up the quote from the general manager with one from ESPN's Bomani Jones that puts the situation in a different way.

“The NBA has a problem, which is it’s got some bad real estate," said Jones. "They put a lot of teams in places that young Black men don’t necessarily want to live.”

By most accounts, the player-empowerment era began with LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Kevin Durant made a similar move in 2016 when he left the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Golden State Warriors. Durant now plays with the Brooklyn Nets with Kyrie Irving and James Harden.

Klutch Sports internally defines player empowerment in a more holistic way.

“Putting them in a decision-making role and educating them—not just putting paper or deals in front of them, but really talking to them and educating them about being a basketball or a football player,” said chief operating officer Fara Leff.

Paul and James both seem to appreciate the fact that they're still business partners with the league.

“Rich is the first to tell LeBron and these players, ‘You have to do this,’” Adam Mendelsohn, a longtime adviser to Paul and James said. “There is this idea about player empowerment that we are taking on the league and taking on the owners. But there is more time spent figuring out how to help the owners and the league be successful than there is spent trying to take them on. And a lot of people assume it’s some sort of activist orientation. It’s not.”

“The perception is that you are busting into the room,” Paul said. “No. You are really trying to have conversations at the highest level, on How are we able to grow our game? How are we able to grow the business of our game?”

A Boston Celtics fan was arrested for allegedly throwing a water bottle at Kyrie Irving.

The incident occurred with Irving leaving the court following the Nets 141-126 win over the Celtics.

"You can see that people just feel very entitled out here," said Irving about the incident. "They paid for their tickets -- great, I'm grateful that they're coming in to watch a great performance. But we're not at the theater. We're not throwing tomatoes and other random stuff at the people that are performing."

A TD Garden spokesperson said that the fan was subject to a lifetime ban from the arena.

The incident is among a string of occurrences between fans and players, including a fan dumping popcorn on Russell Westbrook and Trae Young getting spit upon at Madison Square Garden. 

Monty Williams originally planned to sit Chris Paul for the Phoenix Suns' 100-92 win over of the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4.

"He said, 'Coach, let me start, and if you don't think I'm looking like I normally do, then take me out and we'll have to go in a different direction,'" said Williams of a pre-game conversation with Paul that changed his mind.

Paul finished the game with 18 points and nine assists.

Paul told his teammates that he would only play if he could help the team.

"I told them, 'I don't know how long it's going to be, but if you all feel like I'm out here looking like some trash, just tell me and I'll get out," said Paul.

Game 5 is on Tuesday. Anthony Davis' status is currently "unclear" due to a groin injury.  

The Atlanta Hawks beat the New York Knicks 133-96 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead.

Nate McMillan reminded his team afterwards that the next game would be the hardest of the series. 

"As I told our guys, this game will be the hardest game of the series to close a team out," McMillan said. "We know they're gonna come and they're gonna fight. This will be the hardest game of the series. I expect it to be physical. I expect both teams to come with urgency in this next game."

The game finished with a chippy ending, with Reggie Bullock receiving a technical and Julius Randle called for a flagrant foul on Danilo Gallinari. 

Trae Young said that his focus was on the court. 

"I just be trying to keep it basketball. I don't care if they are in their feelings or who's mad and who's not. It's just basketball at the end of the day. We're just trying to win. All the extra stuff, it is what it is. We're locked in," said Young afterwards.

Young lead the team with 27 points and nine assists. Young has lead the Hawks in scoring and assists in all four games.

Game 5 takes place on Wednesday. 

Anthony Davis is day-to-day with a groin injury, with his status for Game 5 "unclear," according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Davis strained his left groin in Game 3 and didn't return for the second half.

The series is tied 2-2, with Game 5 set for Tuesday.