By admin 
Chicago Bulls All-Star Norman Powell recently collaborated with Kick streamer N3on in a series of interviews. In one of those videos, N3on and Norm are set in a restaurant in a game of truth-or-dare, with the dare being to eat spicy buffalo chicken wings.
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With NBA training camp about to start and Powell admitting to N3on that he is health-conscious and eats clean, he clarified the mechanics of their question-and-answer segment.
“So if I don’t want to answer the question?”
“Then you eat the wing. No, you don’t have to eat the wing, just a bite,” replied N3on before putting Norm in a tough spot: “Who is the most overrated team in the NBA? Eat the wing, brother.”
“You think I’m not gonna say it because I’m gonna get backlash for saying it? I get backlash for my quotes all the time, bro. I’m not afraid at all,” Powell answered before giving it a long thought. “Most overrated team in the NBA?”
When N3on told him that he might just as well eat a wing, Norm finally gave him an answer:
“I’m a say, just so I don’t have to eat the wings, bro, I’m a say the Lakers, bro. There you go.”
Powell was part of LeBronto and played for the Clippers
It’s unclear why Powell said the Los Angeles Lakers, because he did not elaborate on his answer. However, if you look at Norm’s career history, there may be a couple of things in there that may have led him to call out the Purple and Gold.
One, Powell started his career in Toronto and he was there during the entire LeBronto era. In fact, he admitted during an appearance on Paul George’s Podcast P show that LeBron was the reason why the Raptors could not get over the hump and it was only when James went to Los Angeles that Toronto broke through and went on to win the NBA title in 2019.
After Toronto, Powell took his act to Portland, then Los Angeles, but to the “other” L.A. team, the Clippers. And because he played four seasons for Steve Ballmer’s team, he witnessed firsthand how they were second-class citizens of Crypto.com Arena before they finally got their own arena in 2024.
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And so while he has no personal beef with LeBron, his history with him and the fact that he also played for the Clippers may be the reason why Norm picked the Lakers, although LeBron is no longer there, effective next season. But whether that’s the reason or not, Powell told N3on picking the Lakers gives his critics another issue to throw at him.
“Now everybody can go crazy that Norm said the Lakers are the most overrated team. Merry Christmas. There you go, your next fu-g clickbait,” Powell added.
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Windy and ESPN picked the Lakers as the most disappointing team next season
Fortunately, calling the Lakers overrated may no longer be clickbait. That’s because a couple of weeks ago, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst revealed that several NBA executives believe the Lakers will fall short of expectations. He also talked about ESPN’s summer forecast article, which pointed to the Lakers as the team with the most potential to disappoint.
“There’s no more potent formula for disappointment in the NBA than the weight of expectations,” the article wrote. “Combined with an organizational standard for perennial championship contention. That’s the scenario facing the Lakers next season, with L.A. building out its team to fit specifically around 27-year-old superstar Luka Doncic…If L.A. can’t build on its last two 50-win seasons, the team’s handling of LeBron James’ exit will be called into question all over again.”
To the Lakers’ credit, they have surrounded Luka Doncic with players who they think will make Luka successful. In fact, many are saying that GM Rob Pelinka is trying to build Dallas 2.0 in Los Angeles and that next season’s team will be their first entry. Whether Powell, Windy and ESPN are correct or not remains to be seen.
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This story was originally published September 13, 2026 at 3:27 AM.