The 2025 NBA playoffs have begun and the Los Angeles Lakers begin their journey to another NBA Finals. But, can they defeat the Thunder? Could the Clippers play spoiler? Los Angeles Times reporter Dan Woke and columnist Dylan Hernández break it all down.
Former staff writer Dan Woike covered the Lakers for the Los Angeles Times after spending two seasons covering the league as a whole, with an emphasis on Los Angeles’ teams. His work has been honored by the Pro Basketball Writers Assn. He previously covered the Clippers during the “Lob City” era for the Orange County Register, spending most of the past decade chasing NBA teams around the country. He’s also covered the Chargers, the Angels, the Dodgers and USC while in Los Angeles.
Bill Plaschke, an L.A. Times Sports columnist since 1996, is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame and California Sports Hall of Fame. He has been named national Sports Columnist of the Year nine times by the Associated Press, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards. He is the author of six books, including a collection of his columns entitled “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoilsports, Foul Balls and Oddballs.” Plaschke was also a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show, “Around the Horn.” He is in the national Big Brothers/Big Sisters Alumni Hall of Fame and has been named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles Big Brothers/Big Sisters as well as receiving a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth.
Dylan Hernández is a Sports columnist with the Los Angeles Times. Before that, he was the Dodgers beat writer. Hernandez grew up in South Pasadena and graduated from UCLA in 2002, after which he worked at the San Jose Mercury News for five years.
