New Los Angeles Lakers guard Jeremy Lin was officially welcomed to L.A. yesterday by fans and media alike. During an adidas event, Lin spoke with the media and had some interesting things to say about his new team.
After signing a big contract with the Houston Rockets a few seasons back, Lin became expendable with the emergence of Patrick Beverley in the Houston starting line-up. Once the off-season hit, Houston was looking to shed salary and the Lakers were looking for draft picks. The teams were able to agree to a deal that would bring Lin and a first-round draft pick to Los Angeles in exchange for cap relief for Houston.
The Lakers haven’t had a point guard with Lin’s ability to get to the rim since they traded Nick Van Exel to Denver in the late 90’s, so needless to say it will be an adjustment for Kobe Bryant. Lin’s speed however should take the pressure off of Kobe to score as much and allow the Lakers some fast-break points. The question however is whether or not Lin can fit in the Lakers half-court offense where Bryant is sure to dominate the majority of touches.
“I’ve just gotta be myself and play my game, and everything else will take care of itself. I’m not really concerned with all the uncertainties and the uknowns,” Lin said, “I want to be an elite defender eventually, I want to be a more complete player and affect the game in different ways. That’s my focus.”
Lin’s role in Los Angeles is up in the air as we get closer to training camp. For one, the Lakers have a new head coach in Byron Scott, who brings along with him a new system and rotation. Secondly, the Lakers have injury-prone and aging point guard Steve Nash on the roster ahead of Lin, for now at least. Scott has been quoted as saying he expects Nash to start alongside Kobe in the Laker back-court, so that looks to leave Lin as the odd man out in the starting rotation. That doesn’t seem to phase Lin however, who is looking forward to learning from Scott.
“He’s the most successful coach I’ve ever played for at the NBA level in terms of what he’s accomplished as a coach. I’m excited to learn a lot from him. Starting isn’t the most important thing, I’ve been in situations where I start and don’t play at the end of a game, and when I come off the bench and play the last 15 minutes of a game. I’m prepared for almost any situation.”
Still, with the Lakers unable to really count on Nash for the past two seasons due to injury, it’s more than likely that Lin will be a starter at some point this season. Like with Nash, health will be a big question mark for Bryant. Should both miss time with injuries, there will be plenty of pressure on Lin to carry the scoring load. Despite the worry over the health of the aging veterans, Lin definitely gave Laker fans some relief when he said that Bryant and Nash have both looked closer to their normal selves during off-season workouts.
“They both look really good and really healthy. They’re moving well, they look much better than they did las tyear. To see them out there is refreshing.” Lin said, “We talked about how to take care of yourself, your body, your career. I’ve seen some of the stuff that he (Nash) does in workouts and it’s eye-opening to see how him and Kobe are almost like robots in what they do. They know what they want to do and they get it done and leave. They’re very, very detail-0riented.”
If true, that would be huge news for a Laker fanbase who has dealt with more turmoil and losing in the past two years than they’ve seen in over a decade. With Nash in the final year of his contract, his health is a big deal to the Lakers. Should the two-time MVP return and show that he is capable of playing at an even average level, the Lakers suddenly have a desirable trade chip with Nash’s expiring deal.
As for Kobe, his health could be the key to the Lakers future. With the team heading into an off-season in which they’ll likely have a ton of cap space, Bryant’s ability to overcome last season’s injuries and play at a high level could determine whether or not younger stars decide to make their way out to Hollywood. Likewise, Lin’s ability to play at a high level and possibly take over the Lakers starting point guard position into the future could help the team look more attractive to free agents.
Regardless, Lin is sure to have plenty of fans in Los Angeles. Despite their (deserved) reputation for being overwhelming, over-expecting and overall impatient, the fan base is incredibly strong around the nation. Lin himself said that he noticed in his stops in New York and Houston that whenever the Lakers came to town, the home crowd definitely had a few fans for the road team.
“It seems like everywhere I go there’s Laker fans. I’ll be in Dallas, on the East Coast, in Asia, doesn’t matter where. It seems like they’re everywhere, the receptions been unbelievable. I’ll be looking forward to having some Laker fans on the road with us.”
This season should definitely be an interesting one for the Lakers and for Lin. The team will try and rebound from a terrible 2013-14 season, and Lin will be attempting to cement himself as a starter in his contract season.