This year’s edition of the Los Angeles Lakers has plenty of depth, and aside from dependable bench players such as Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent and Christian Wood, it also has some untapped potential.
Rookie Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis and second-year wing Max Christie all have the potential to become very serviceable if not good players. In addition, the Lakers have Cam Reddish, a former lottery pick who has always been considered to be brimming with potential.
The Lakers are Reddish’s fourth team in his five seasons in the NBA. He is part of their regular rotation to start the season, and he therefore has an opportunity to establish himself as a useful player.
Starting point guard D’Angelo Russell talked about how Reddish reminds him of himself when he was starting out in the league and how he wants to help him improve (h/t Lakers Daily).
D’Angelo Russell with a really thoughtful answer on how he’s trying to do for Cam Reddish what Joe Harris did for him when they were on the Brooklyn Nets together: Provide an example of professional to follow in order to get his career momentum back on track pic.twitter.com/Y7qYuYDde4
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 28, 2023
“Remind me of myself a lot,” Russell said of Reddish. “Come into the league, not really knowin’ how to be professional. And you gettin’ judged by that. Figuring out a way just to change your professionalism, and do the opposite everything you been doin’. Because obviously the perception of you is what it is, and you can’t change it. The only thing you can change is your approach.
“So forget the past and just change your approach and try to work on your professionalism and how you carry yourself. Understand the perception of you and what they say, what it looks like. Just understanding that as a young player, as a young player it takes you to bump your head a few times to realize your perception.
“So now you got an opportunity around a bunch of vets, a bunch of guys that can help you. Listen. Do more. Do the opposite of what you been doin’.
“I told him when I got to Brooklyn that was my time of kind of going through what he’s going through, bouncing from teams. And I get to Brooklyn, and I met Joe Harris, and I followed Joe Harris. I walked like him. I tried to be there at the gym when he got there. When he left is when I thought about leavin’. I was just on his whole regimen, and I found my regimen within that. But he was a guy I wanted to learn how to be a professional from.”
There was a time when Russell was considered unprofessional and immature, especially during his first stint with L.A. during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. But once he returned in last season’s Russell Westbrook trade, it was clear he had changed and become a more positive example for teammates to follow.
