Matthew Barrero

On what would have been Kobe Bryant’s 44th birthday (8/23) and the day now known in many parts of Southern California as Kobe Bryant Day (8/24), the Los Angeles Lakers commemorated the legendary guard by acknowledging newborn babies at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital.

Now an annual tradition, the team provides the babies and their new parents a Kobe-themed package full of Purple and Gold blankets, No. 8 baby beanies, Kobe T-shirts, and a special note from the Lake Show and UCLA Hospital that reads:

“WELCOME TO THE WORLD! One of your family’s most special days has landed on one of our organization’s most celebrated days. On this year’s Kobe Day, here’s to your next-generation Lakers fan. They’ve already got a little of the Mamba Mentality in them. Congratulations!”

The newborns have been christened as ‘Day One’ Lakers fans and will forever be tied with Kobe Bean Bryant.

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Lakers Celebrate "Kobe" Babies

The NBA 2K23 Summer League came to an end Sunday afternoon with the Portland Trail Blazers defeating the New York Knicks, 85-77, in the championship game.

While the Lakers were unable to come away with the tournament’s big prize, the young group provided a glimpse into the Purple and Gold’s bright future.

Prior to playing in Las Vegas, L.A. took part in the 2022 California Classic Summer League, hosted by the current champion Golden State Warriors. Joined by the Warriors, Miami Heat, and Sacramento Kings, the Lakers opened Summer League play with a bang and picked up a dominating, 100-66 win over the Heat.

The team shot 47.1 percent from the field, knocked down 27 of their 32 free throw attempts (Heat went 11-of-19), and held Miami to just 22 points in the paint (L.A. scored 32 interior points). Paris Bass (15), Scotty Pippen Jr. (14), and Cole Swider (13) finished with double-digit points, and each added six rebounds on the night.

On the second day of the back-to-back, the Lakers showed no signs of fatigue as they took down the Warriors in front of their home crowd, 100-77.

Pippen Jr. and Swider once again had solid performances and were both instrumental in the 23-point victory. Pippen Jr. scored 15 points, dished out eight assists, and tallied three steals, while Swider knocked down 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and finished with 16 points on top of three rebounds.

Jay Huff was the only other Laker to finish in double figures with the big man registering 10 points, six rebounds, and three blocks in 16 minutes.

On the final day in the bay, Los Angeles faced the Sacramento Kings as both teams looked to finish undefeated in the California Classic. Unfortunately for the Lake Show, the Kings were just a little bit better on this day and picked up the 87-75 victory.

Some bright spots in the loss included Javante McCoy (15 points) and Paris Bass (13 points), who each hit six of their attempts from the field, as well as Vitto Brown, who scored 13 points and grabbed four boards in 22 minutes.

California Classic Scoring Leaders (min 3 games played/AVG):

The Lakers finished 2-1 in San Francisco as the team shifted gears to Las Vegas for the remainder of Summer League.

The change of scenery was not kind from the get-go, as the team would drop its first two games to the Phoenix Suns (lost 104-84) and a double overtime stunner to the Charlotte Hornets (lost 89-86).

In the opening loss to Phoenix, Scotty Pippen Jr. was once again making his case to join the senior squad by the time Opening Night rolls around in October. The rookie out of Vanderbilt scored a team-high 19 points, brought down four rebounds, and recorded three assists and steals each in 24 minutes.

Against Charlotte two nights later, Los Angeles led by as many as 15 during the game and held leads in the final minute of both regulation and overtime. But the Hornets remained relentless forced a first overtime and promptly forced a sudden-death double overtime (something only done during Summer League).

Pippen Jr. missed a potential game-winning three on the first possession of the second OT and the Hornets swiftly drove to the other end of the court and snagged the win with a three of their own.

Cole Swider was the saving grace in the loss, as the rookie from Syracuse scored 21 points on 6-of-10 from the field, 5-of-8 from three, and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe, to go along with four rebounds.

Max Christie and Scotty Pippen Jr. each added 10 points and third-year veteran Mason Jones contributed 13 points, three assists, and two each of rebounds and steals.

The team had started 0-2 in Sin City, but the tide would turn in good fortunes the rest of the tournament as the Lakers would finish off the Summer League a perfect 3-0.

An 83-72 victory over the LA Clippers was thanks in large to a double-double performance by Mason Jones who finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists. Equally as helpful was Javante McCoy, who finished 70.0 percent from the field and added 14 points to the mix.

On the second to last night of the summer tournament, the Lakers played spoiler to a Pelicans team that was looking to pick up a victory and place themselves into the tournament championship.

L.A. made the night anything but easy for their opponent, picked up a 102-94 win and dashed any hope New Orleans had of playing for a Summer League ring.

Six different Lakers finished with double-digit points but Swider was the major contributor on this night. He scored 21 points on 8-of-15 from the field (5-of-11 from three), tallied six rebounds, and recorded a steal in a team-high 23 minutes.

Max Christie scored his Summer League high 12 points on 50.0 percent from the field and Pippen Jr. added 11 points, seven assists, three rebounds, three steals, and a block.

On the final night of play, the Lakers utilized a strong, full team effort to grab a 95-84 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Each Laker to step on the floor in this game registered at least one-made FG and one rebound. Swider again led the scoring with 16 points on 6-of-9 from the floor, Pippen Jr. tallied stats in every major category with 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a block, and Jay Huff (13 points) and Javante McCoy (12 points) capped off the quartet with double-digit points.

The book was closed on this Summer League as Lakers finished with an overall record of 5-3. The young and raw talent was put on full display throughout the eight games as these players prepare for the next steps of their NBA journey.

NBA 2K23 Summer League Scoring Leaders (min 5 games played/AVG):

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Lakers Summer League: The Kids Can Play

For the final time in the NBA 2K23 Summer League, the Lakers displayed a full-team effort in Saturday’s 95-84 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Los Angeles started hot with a 13-2 run off the opening tip as the young squad was clicking on all cylinders.

The two-way play of the Lakers was overwhelming for a Mavericks team that had yet to win a game in their time in Las Vegas. L.A. would push its lead to 20 as the game hit the half.

The Mavs opened the second half on an 11-2 run before Jay Huff knocked down an easy jumper in the paint to stop the bleeding. Dallas immediately countered with its second 11-2 run of the quarter and cut the L.A. lead down to seven.

Los Angeles would compose themselves and regain a double-digit lead after Mason Jones knocked down a circus jump shot late in the third.

Dallas would continue its onslaught and found themselves down by only five midway through the final frame. The Lake Show would cushion their lead back up to 12 thanks to a 7-0 run with about three minutes in the game and wouldn’t look back from there.

Cole Swider led the way with 16 points on 6-of-9 from the field (4-of-6 from three), grabbed three boards, and tallied an assist. Huff contributed 13 points, Javante McCoy added 12 points, two assists, and Scotty Pippen Jr. once again filled his stat sheet with 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a block in 19 minutes.

Not including Sacha Killeya-Jones (who did not enter tonight’s game), every Laker who did play in the contest register at least two points and one rebound in eight-plus minutes.

With the win, the Lakers finish their time in Vegas on a three-game win streak to improve to 3-2 and end Summer League with an overall record of 5-3.

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Lakers Harmonious to Close Summer League Play

On the second to last night of Summer League play, the Lakers picked up the 102-94 win over the Pelicans Friday night in Las Vegas.

New Orleans had plenty to play for as a win over Los Angeles by five or more points in tonight’s contest would have pushed the Pels into Sunday’s championship game against the New York Knicks.

The Lakers showed off some impressive athleticism early in the game after Max Christie knocked down an elegant fadeaway three with the shot clock running down.

The Lakers led by three late in the frame, but the Pelicans would flip the script and close the quarter on a 16-5 run and take an eight-point lead into the second.

L.A. quickly erased the deficit with a 9-1 run in the second and tied the game at 28. The Lakers were raining triples from all areas of the court throughout the night but especially in the second frame, where they went 6-of-8 and outscored the Pelicans 33-17 and took an eight-point lead into halftime.

But it was to no avail as the Lake Show picked up the eight-point victory.

The two teams matched each other shot-for-shot in the third quarter, but the Lakers increased their lead to double digits (11) as they headed into the final 10 minutes.

New Orleans came out swinging and cut the deficit to single digits early in the quarter as the Pelicans looked to mount the comeback and push themselves into Sunday’s championship game. For the Lakers, a letdown in the second of their last three games (led by 15 vs Charlotte on Sunday and lost) was not in the cards tonight.

The young squad knocked down some big shots including clutch free throws from Javante McCoy with about a minute left in the game and never allowed the Pelicans to get any closer than eight points.

Cole Swider had the hot hand for majority of the night as the young forward led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-15 from the field (5-of-11 on threes), added six rebounds, and at one point scored 11-straight points by his lonesome.

On top of his late free throws (finished 5-of-6 from the line) to seal the win, Javante McCoy finished with 14 points, seven assists, and four rebounds. Additionally, Max Christie hit 50.0 percent from the field for 12 points and added four rebounds, and Scotty Pippen Jr. was a full-team player in 22 minutes and scored 11 points to go along with seven assists, three rebounds, three steals and a block.

Jay Huff made his return after missing the last four games (health and safety protocols) and came off the bench to score 10 points and grab four boards.

The Lakers drained 17-of-36 (46.3%) from beyond the arc, the most in their six Summer League games. With their win, the team improved to 2-2 in Las Vegas and 4-3 overall. They’ll play one more time tomorrow night to close out the Summer League when they face the Dallas Mavericks.

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Lakers Play Spoiler in Win Over Pelicans

The unofficial start of a new season began for the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night in Brooklyn after they drafted Max Christie with the 35th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Hours before the start, the Lakers had zero picks entering the night. L.A. would have selected eighth overall in Thursday’s draft but traded away those rights as part of the Anthony Davis deal with New Orleans in 2019. Additionally, the Purple and Gold also held the 38th overall pick but San Antonio earned the rights following league transactions.

That all changed as the team picked up the 35th overall pick and sent a 2028 second-round pick and cash considerations to the Orlando Magic.

“We talked about intentionally getting younger and the chance to get into the top of the second round was something we strategically had on our board that we wanted to accomplish,” Vice President of Business Ops Rob Pelinka said on the move. “Our scouts have an incredible track record of finding guys in the second round that we can develop.”

Five picks into the second round, the freshman out of Michigan State heard his name called.

“It’s amazing, it’s surreal,” Christie expressed after being selected. “LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony – the list goes on. A bunch of great names, a bunch of great players on the Lakers team. I think I can learn a lot and get a lot better in that organization.”

The 6’6” guard averaged 9.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 30.8 minutes/game and was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.

Christie highlighted his ability to make shots and knock down threes was not displayed to his full protentional last season, but believes, “have a little bit of a reset coming into the NBA” will allow him to display his talent at a better level.

Prior to his lone season with the Spartans, Christie played high school ball at Rolling Meadows High School, about 30 minutes north of Chicago. In his senior season, Christie averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks per game and led Rolling Meadows to a 15-0 record, captured the Mid-Suburban League title, and was named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year, the News-Gazette All-State Player of the Year, and the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year.

Christie was a consensus five-star recruit and was rated one of the top players in the country. He ranked 12th in the ESPN Top-100, was the No. 3-ranked shooting guard, and was a 2021 McDonald’s All-American. Christie was also named to the rosters for the Jordan Brand Classic and Nike Hoop Summit.

Pelinka added Christie’s “high character” and “grit” from playing under Tom Izzo as part of what drew the team to selecting him.

“Max was a consensus pick,” Pelinka illustrated. “If he had chosen to go back to school, you’re talking about a guy that could have easily been a top 15-20 pick in the 2023 draft. So, to be able to get a player like that and develop him with the 35th pick is rare and we’re really proud of that.”

In addition to selection of Christie, the team agreed to two-way contracts with Cole Swider (Syracuse) and Scotty Pippen Jr. (Vanderbilt).

“Swider has the ability to stretch the floor and he showed that at Syracuse,” Pelinka noted. “He’s 6’9” and a player like that can step in and help us on the two-way. Scotty Pippen Jr. is a tenacious, defensive-minded kid that is going to compete, and he really changed the complexity of camp. We loved his attitude when he came and worked out.”

Pelinka added that all three players can add a fresh energy in what the team can do once camp opens.

“We have to get younger,” Pelinka emphasized. “We have to start developing players. Last year we saw the impact of Stanley Johnson, Wenyen Gabriel, and Austin Reaves. I think the wrong thing to do in the draft is to get a guy who can play in the NBA right now. That’s when you can make big mistakes. We want players to help in the present time but can develop into something special.”

Matthew Barrero

Lakers Celebrate "Kobe" Babies

Lakers Summer League: The Kids Can Play

Lakers Harmonious to Close Summer League Play

Lakers Play Spoiler in Win Over Pelicans

Lakers Focus Draft on Developing Young Talent