J.J. Redick

L.A. Notes: Redick, Lakers, Clippers, Kawhi Investigation

The contract extension the Lakers gave J.J. Redick after his first season on the job is a two-year deal, ESPN’s Shams Charania said during an appearance on NBA Today (YouTube link). When Redick was hired by the Lakers in 2024, he received a four-year contract, so he’s now locked up for five seasons, through 2029/30.

Charania also reported that Redick will make $45MM over the course of the next five seasons. His original four-year contract was said to be worth approximately $32MM. We don’t know the exact year-to-year structure of that original deal, but it likely didn’t have more than about $25MM left on it after year one, which suggests Redick’s extension is in the neighborhood of $10MM per year, a step up from the $8MM annual salary he received on his initial agreement.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:

  • Law Murray of The Athletic takes a look at the changes the Lakers‘ roster has undergone since last season, noting that Redick has yet to confirm his starting five for the upcoming season. “I haven’t spent much time thinking about the starting lineup yet, but I feel there are seven to eight starting-caliber players on the roster,” Redick said. “We will know the official starters once the training camp starts.”
  • Khobi Price of The Orange County Register identifies five Lakers-related storylines to monitor during training camp, including who will round out the starting lineup and who will emerge as the team’s primary backup center. Janis Carr of The Orange County Register conducts a similar exercise for the Clippers, with Bradley Beal‘s role and Chris Paul‘s return to L.A. among the storylines she believes are worth monitoring.
  • Of course, the biggest Clippers-related storyline these days is the NBA’s investigation into possible salary cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard. While team owner Steve Ballmer has been interviewed about the subject, Leonard has yet to address it all. As Murray writes for The Athletic, that’s about to change with media day around the corner
  • In a pair of in-depth stories for The Athletic, Joe Vardon surveys league sources and sponsors to get a sense of how Leonard’s “endorsement” deal with Aspiration compares to other arrangements about the NBA, while Dan Woike, Sam Amick, and Mike Vorkunov take a deep dive into what we know about Dennis Robertson, aka Uncle Dennis, who is a central figure in the league’s investigation into Leonard and the Clippers.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Redick, Luka, Reaves, Buss Brothers

How and where will the NBA’s all-time leading scorer end his career? Yaron Weitzman explores that topic in a story for Bleacher Report, writing that most people around the league expect LeBron James to eventually retire with the Lakers.

If James does leave Los Angeles, the Cavaliers are viewed by agents and executives as the “only team LeBron would seriously consider joining,” Weitzman writes.

If he wants to do a farewell tour like Kobe (Bryant) did, it’s the only other team that makes sense,” a league executive told Weitzman. “LeBron cares about narratives. He doesn’t want to be like Michael Jordan on the Wizards.”

Still, James potentially joining the Cavs is highly unlikely during the upcoming season for several reasons, Weitzman notes. If LeBron decides to return to Cleveland, it would likely occur in 2026 free agency, and would require the 40-year-old to take a major pay cut.

For his part, Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka continues to insist the team wants LeBron around as long as he wants to be in L.A., per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

We would love if LeBron’s story would be he retired a Laker,” Pelinka said about the possibility of re-signing James next summer. “That would be a positive story.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

  • According to McMenamin, Pelinka explained why the team decided to extend the contract of head coach J.J. Redick after just one season at the helm. “We think he’s a special coach with a special voice that’s really helping us define the culture of Lakers excellence,” Pelinka said. “We just wanted to make a clear statement that this is what we believe in, what we’re going to lean into and what our players are going to mold into as we continue to develop the identity. I think having long-term planning is helpful as we build this team and go forward.” Redick said he was grateful for the Lakers’ support, McMenamin adds.
  • Redick also touched on his offseason conversations with James and Luka Doncic, expressing confidence in both of the team’s stars, as McMenamin writes. “[James is] in a great spot mentally and know he’s going to give us his absolute best,” Redick said. “… I expect the best version of Luka, and it’s my job as a coach to bring that out on a daily basis.”
  • Doncic told Dan Woike of The Athletic he feels “way more comfortable” being a Laker now compared to when he was first traded to Los Angeles in February and is looking forward to the season. The Slovenian guard said he made progress becoming a more vocal leader during EuroBasket 2025. “(Being a leader), sometimes it’s comfortable, sometimes not,” Doncic said. “Sometimes it’s great to be a leader and sometimes you have to say things that you don’t want to, but that’s part of being a leader.”
  • Evidently Doncic isn’t the only Laker who worked hard at getting in better physical shape this offseason, as Redick said Austin Reaves has improved his “burst” and “athleticism,” tweets Law Murray of The Athletic. Redick added that Reaves has been the best player in the gym when he has participated in informal activities.
  • Lakers alternate governor Joey Buss and his brother, assistant GM Jesse Buss, are launching an investment firm called Buss Sports Capital, McMenamin and Shams Charania report for ESPN. “Our vision is to really go after strategic investments and good partners — specifically sports-related investments,” Joey Buss told ESPN. “Buss Sports Capital is not going to compete with our interests in the Lakers or the NBA. This is our first step towards where the future of sports is going to lead us. It is exciting to see what growth opportunities exist — particularly opportunities that we can add value to, given our skill sets.” Both Joey and Jesse are expected to remain with the Lakers following the sale of the team to Mark Walter.
  • Athlon Sports contributor Mark Medina shares five takeaways from Thursday’s joint press conference with Pelinka and Redick.

Lakers Sign Coach J.J. Redick To Contract Extension

The Lakers have extended the contract of head coach J.J. Redick, president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka announced today (Twitter link via Dan Woike of The Athletic).

Pelinka cited the team’s “confidence” and “belief” in Redick as primary factors in the deal being reached, tweets Law Murray of The Athletic.

Redick, 41, compiled a 50-32 record in 2024/25 as a first-time head coach with Los Angeles. The Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Minnesota in five games.

Redick reportedly received a four-year contract worth about $8MM annually last summer when he was initially hired by the Lakers. It’s unclear how many new years were added as part of his extension.

A former NBA sharpshooter who played 15 seasons in the league from 2006-2021, Redick had preexisting connections to the L.A. area, having spent four seasons with the Clippers during his playing days.

Redick was long viewed as the frontrunner for the Lakers’ head coaching job after they fired Darvin Ham in 2024 following a first-round playoff exit. The Lakers reportedly made a lucrative contract offer to UConn coach Dan Hurley last summer, but he decided to stay with the Huskies.

Pacific Notes: Post, Jackson, Kings Draft Workout, Frank, Redick

Quinten Post went from a second-round rookie on a two-way contract to a regular contributor on a standard deal this season with Warriors. Post, who only played six minutes in the Game 1 win over Minnesota on Tuesday, is grateful for how his rookie campaign unfolded.

“It’s always a bunch of factors combined. Obviously, you need to have self-belief,” he told Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. “Even when I was in the G League, I had this belief in myself that this would work out. I had a lot of things that I did in the best of my career so far.

Then you just need an opportunity. They were struggling a little bit during the regular season. I’m very grateful because coach (Steve Kerr) let me play through some mistakes, especially early on. I definitely didn’t play perfect. It wasn’t like I came out and was a game changer at all. That wasn’t the case at all. But he let me play through some mistakes. Then I think Jimmy being traded to us also helped me out.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • Bobby Jackson is returning to the Kings coaching staff as an assistant to Doug Christie, radio reporter Sean Cunningham tweets. Jackson, who has been on the Sixers‘ staff for the past two seasons, was previously the head coach of the NBA G League’s Stockton Kings for two seasons.
  • Missouri guard Tamar Bates, Florida center Rueben Chinyelu, Georgia guard Silas Demary, Villanova guard Wooga Poplar and Kentucky center Amari Williams were among the draft prospects who worked for the Kings on Monday, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee writes. Williams is ranked 59th on ESPN’s top-100 list. Demary transferred to UConn but is testing the draft waters.
  • Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank will focus on adding frontcourt help – especially at the center position – and younger players this offseason, according to Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. “I think we need to add (players),” Frank said. “The West is a bear. It doesn’t get easier. It gets harder because each of these teams that either were playing or are currently playing – look at their top players, they are studs, they’re great players, some are in their prime, some are pre-primed, some are also comparable ages to our guys.”
  • Lakers coach J.J. Redick believes certain members of the team need to do a better job of conditioning and improving their stamina, according to Khobi Price of the Orange County Register. “I’ll start with the offseason and the work that’s required in an offseason to be in championship shape,” he said. “And we have a ways to go as a roster. And certainly, there are individuals that were in phenomenal shape. There’s certainly other ones that could have been in better shape. That’s where my mind goes immediately is we have to get in championship shape.”

Pacific Notes: Triano, Kings, Christie, Clippers, Redick

Jay Triano, who had been the Kings‘ lead assistant this season, won’t be returning to Doug Christie‘s staff for 2025/26, sources tell Anthony Slater and Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Triano, who has been a Kings assistant since 2022, previously served as a head coach in Toronto (2008-11) and Phoenix (2017-18) and had stints as an assistant with the Raptors (2002-08), Trail Blazers (2012-16), Suns (2016-17), and Hornets (2018-22) before arriving in Sacramento. He was promoted to associate head coach in 2024 following the departure of Jordi Fernandez and still had time left on his contract after this season, reports Amick.

As Slater and Amick note (via Twitter), Triano’s exit comes as part of an overhaul of Christie’s coaching staff, with Jawad Williams, Riccardo Fois, Robbie Lemons, and Sam Logwood also on the way out.

One assistant coach who will remain under Christie is Leandro Barbosa, Slater adds. A former NBA guard, Barbosa has been with the Kings since 2022 after previously serving as a player development coach in Golden State.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • Reintroducing Christie as the Kings‘ permanent head coach during a media session on Friday, new general manager Scott Perry said he was impressed from afar this season by the way Christie handled his “baptism by fire” and connected with his players after replacing Mike Brown in December, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. “Look, I’m a former coach, and I’m the first to tell him or anybody else, it’s not an easy job,” Perry said. “It’s the most second-guessed job in the world probably, but he is made of the type of internal fortitude necessary to navigate those waters.”
  • Hampered for years by untimely injuries to key players, the Clippers have shown in the first-round series vs. Denver that they’re a formidable opponent when their stars – in this case, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden – are healthy, writes Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. While Leonard has been the team’s top offensive postseason weapon, scoring at least 20 points in each of the first six games of the series, the Clippers may need Harden to come up as big as he did in Game 6 (28 points, eight assists) to win on Saturday and advance to round two, says Law Murray of The Athletic.
  • With J.J. Redick‘s inaugural season as a head coach in the books, Jovan Buha of The Athletic evaluates the job the first-time coach did for the Lakers and notes that Redick is bullish about his potential to continue improving. “I know I will get better,” he said this week. “I don’t necessarily take any satisfaction from how the year went. That’s not to say I’m not proud of what the group was able to do, and how we were able to figure out things on the fly and put ourselves in a position to have home court in the first round. But there’s always ways to get better. And I can get a lot better.”

Lakers Notes: Doncic, LeBron, Redick, Offseason

Luka Doncic, who will become extension-eligible this summer, will have several different options available to him if he wants to sign a new deal with the Lakers. His maximum contract as of August 2 would be worth a projected $229MM over four years, but it might be more favorable for him in the long term for him to sign a three-year deal with a third-year option that would allow him to opt out in 2028, when he has 10 years of NBA experience and qualifies for a salary worth 35% of the cap.

Team sources tell Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic that the Lakers would be amenable to whatever kind of contract Doncic wants, while sources close to the star guard tell ESPN’s Dave McMenamin that he’ll likely take his time with the decision.

A source close to Doncic tells ESPN that the five-time All-Star feels “wanted” in Los Angeles, so it seems possible that he’ll make some sort of commitment to his new team this summer. For what it’s worth, LeBron James told ESPN that he’d love to see Doncic in Los Angles long term but won’t be trying to influence his teammate’s decision.

“No, that ain’t my job,” James said, per McMenamin. “I think … I don’t think, I know, Luka knows how I feel about him. And ultimately, that trade happened for the future. That’s not for me. Luka has to decide what he has to do with his future. He’s (26) years old, I’m 40, so he can’t be basing his career off me. That’s just real.

“But I hope, obviously, (he stays long term). Laker fans f—ing love him here. L.A. has accepted him. We love him as a teammate, as a brother. But ultimately, he’s got to make a decision for him. S–t, I ain’t going to be around much longer.”

Here’s more on the Lakers:

  • James will have a contract decision of his own to make this summer, and while a return to the Lakers seems likely, team and league sources who spoke to Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic wouldn’t entirely rule out the possibility of the four-time MVP finishing his career elsewhere. Assuming he remains in Los Angeles, LeBron isn’t expected to consider taking a pay cut, according to Buha and Amick. A year ago, James shaved approximately $2.7MM off his max deal to help the team remain under the second tax apron and reportedly would’ve accepted an even bigger discount if the front office had been able to land one of the four free agent targets on his wish list (James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Klay Thompson, or Jonas Valanciunas).
  • First-year head coach J.J. Redick came under fire for his handling of the Lakers’ rotation in the first-round playoff series vs. Minnesota, as well as his abrupt exit from a press conference prior to Game 5. However, team sources tell Buha and Amick that the Lakers remain high on Redick’s future with the organization and were aware there might be some “growing pains” in year one. Redick also seems to have the full support of the locker room, with Doncic and James both expressing support for him after the team’s Game 5 loss. “I think he’s a hell of a coach,” Doncic said, per McMenamin. “I’m really glad I got coached by him these couple of months. It feels sometimes like I’m back in Europe a little bit. So I love it. We have a great bond. It’s been nothing but amazing with him as a coach.”
  • Both Redick and Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka preached patience following the club’s midseason roster shake-up, as Khobi Price of The Orange County Register relays. “These things take time, particularly with the star players,” Redick said. “There’s a reason in the modern NBA history, go back the last 30, 40 years, there’s been less than a handful of All-Star players traded in-season that led directly to a championship. These things take time.” Pelinka agreed, noting that the offseason will give the Lakers an opportunity to continue building around their stars: “When you make a seismic trade at the deadline, your roster and the building around it, it’s kind of like trying to build an airplane in the sky. Now we get a chance to land that plane, put it in the hangar, and really figure out the parts of it that we need to retrofit and change. That’s what we’ll do.”
  • As disappointing as their five-game playoff exit was, the Lakers provided a number of reasons for optimism and hope going forward, writes Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times.
  • In case you missed it, Pelinka confirmed on Thursday that upgrading the frontcourt will be one of the Lakers’ top priorities this summer.

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Bronny, Redick, Offseason

After getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for a second straight season, 21-time All-Star Lakers forward LeBron James was noncommittal about his future in the NBA.

The four-time MVP holds a lucrative $52.6MM player option for the 2025/26 season, which would be his record-setting 23rd in the league. At 40, James has been the NBA’s oldest player for two straight years. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, it is anticipated that James will at least return to suit up next season, as he noted on The Pat McAfee Show (YouTube video link).

“There’s no expectation for LeBron James to retire,” Charania said (hat tip to RealGM). “I will say that my sense, my understanding is he will play at least another NBA season. You think about next year, it’ll be year 23, that would set a league record. Year 23 for number 23. The All-Star game is in Los Angeles. He’s potentially playing in Los Angeles. There’s a lot of stars that would align for next season, potentially, if that’s what LeBron James decides. He’d be 41 years old in December.”

James put up impressive averages of 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks per game in L.A.’s 4-1 first round loss to Minnesota, but he often appeared exhausted by the fourth quarter of those bouts.

“And the other thing is does Bryce James, his son, does that factor play into it at all?” Charania said. “His son is going to be potentially draft-eligible in 2026 next year. So if he feels at some point next year Bryce James might be an NBA player. Might be a draft-eligible player, does he extend that window? I think that’s the only potential carrot caveat that you think of out there that could keep LeBron James even longer than at least one more year.”

Bryce James has committed to play at Arizona in 2025/26.

There’s more out of Los Angeles:

  • LeBron James’ eldest son, Bronny James, was a deep-bench rookie guard with the Lakers this past season. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link), the 20-year-old verified after Wednesday’s loss that he will return to suit up in Summer League activities with L.A. for the second straight season.
  • After a generally successful 50-win regular season, first-year Lakers head coach JJ Redick had a strange playoff run during a 4-1 first round elimination to the Timberwolves, opines Mirjam Swanson of The Orange County Register. Swanson noted that Redick’s unusual coaching choices may have contributed to L.A.’s expedient exit. Redick played just five players for the entire second half of an eventual Game 4 defeat, and subsequently insisted that the club’s late-game failings were not a result of clear fatigue. Redick also opted to play reserve big man Maxi Kleber in Game 5 in his first game as a Laker after a three-month recovery from foot surgery. The Lakers, who essentially opted against using a traditional center in Game 5, surrendered 56 paint points and 20 second-chance points to Minnesota in the loss.
  • The Lakers now head into an uncertain offseason, as Mark Deeks of HoopsHype and Bobby Marks of ESPN observe in their respective summer previews. Beyond James’ contract decision, forward Dorian Finney-Smith also has a $15.4MM player option for 2025/26. The Lakers could offer five-time All-NBA guard Luka Doncic a four-year, maximum-salary contract extension as of August 2. Veteran players on sizable deals like forward Rui Hachimura, guard Gabe Vincent, and Kleber could all be used to match salaries should Los Angeles look to acquire perimeter or center help on the trade market.

Lakers Notes: Game 4 Loss, Hayes, Finney-Smith, Doncic, LeBron

Coach J.J. Redick made two bold strategic moves that nearly led the Lakers to a Game 4 victory in Minnesota, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Redick decided to replace center Jaxson Hayes with Dorian Finney-Smith for the start of the third quarter, and he used the same five players for the entire second half. Buha notes that Gabe Vincent nearly checked in at one point, but Redick changed his mind and stayed with the same unit for the full 24 minutes.

“I think once you’ve kind of made that decision, and (the players) all are in, you just gotta trust them,” Redick said.

The move seemed inevitable with Hayes, who has been limited to seven points and eight rebounds in the series and didn’t reach double digits in minutes in any of the first four games. Finney-Smith enables L.A. to spread the floor on offense and switch more easily on defense.

The group started the second half on an 11-0 run and won the third quarter by a 36-23 margin, giving the Lakers their highest-scoring quarter of the series. They led by seven points with 5:06 remaining and seemed to be in a good position to tie the series, but couldn’t close out the game. A series of late mistakes proved costly, but players refused to blame the loss on their iron man performance in the second half.

“I don’t think fatigue had anything to do with that,” LeBron James said. “Just missing some point-blank shots, you know? We were getting into what we wanted to get into. We just weren’t able to convert.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

  • Sunday’s game displayed how little trust Redick has in his bench, Buha adds. Along with Hayes, his other rotation members, Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt and Jordan Goodwin, tend to be one-way players. Buha believes Redick might use a center-less approach for the rest of the series, even though the Wolves have a lot of size on their front line.
  • After battling through a stomach virus in Game 3, Luka Doncic seemed to be back to normal on Sunday, according to Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Doncic finished with 38 points while logging a series-high 46 minutes. “This is the playoffs – fatigue shouldn’t play any role in this,” Doncic said. “I played a lot of minutes, but that shouldn’t play a role. I think they just executed better on the offensive end during the last minutes.”
  • James also played 46 minutes and appears to be fully recovered from a left hip flexor strain he suffered two weeks ago, Buha states in a separate story. “He’s moving better,” Redick said after Game 3. “He seems like he’s getting healthier by the day. It’s typically a one-to-two-week injury. Believe it’s been two weeks tonight, if I’m mistaken, from the Houston game. Clearly he’s moving better.”

Pacific Notes: Warriors Vs. Clippers, Reaves, Redick, Kuminga

Sunday is the final day of the regular season, but the matchup between the Warriors and Clippers is virtually a playoff game, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. The winner will wrap up an automatic playoff berth, while the loser could slip to seventh place and a spot in the play-in tournament.

“High stakes, huh?” Clippers center Ivica Zubac said after Friday’s one-point victory at Sacramento. “It’s been like that forever. Imagine if we didn’t win all these games.”

L.A. has won all three meetings between the teams this season, but they haven’t faced each other since December 27. That was about a week before Kawhi Leonard made his season debut after missing the first 34 games due to knee issues and a little more than a month before Golden State added Jimmy Butler in a major deadline trade. Both teams have been moving up the standings since then, heading toward Sunday’s clash.

“It’s basketball. The outcome is going to tell what happens,” Leonard said. “So, it’s just going out and playing, that’s all you can do. Play and have fun. Everybody wants to win coming down the stretch.”

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

  • After wrapping up the No. 3 seed Friday night, the Lakers are very confident as they approach the playoffs, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Austin Reaves said it felt like five regular seasons wrapped into one because of all the roster changes, but the team wound up in a good place. “We feel very comfortable with what we got in the locker room, from front office, coaching staff to players,” Reaves said. “We’re all locked into one goal and that’s to win a championship. We can play different ways and then we got the best player to ever play the game (in LeBron James) and then probably, arguably (someone who is) going to be one of the best players to ever play the game with Luka (Doncic). And then around that, we have guys that are just bought into winning and that’s what you need when you’re trying to make a run like that.”
  • The Lakers made a great decision by hiring J.J. Redick as head coach and were fortunate that UConn’s Dan Hurley turned down their six-year, $70MM offer last June, contends columnist Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times (subscription required).
  • Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday that he hasn’t given up on a front line of Butler, Draymond Green and Jonathan Kuminga, even though the experiment hasn’t gone well so far, according to Sam Gordon of The San Francisco Chronicle. Golden State has a minus-24.9 net rating in the 38 minutes they’ve been on the court together, and Gordon notes that none of them can stretch the floor as a consistent three-point threat. Gordon also observes that the Butler trade left Kuminga with a reduced role. “He’s handled things really well. He’s working. He’s staying ready. He’s playing hard when he’s out there,” Kerr said. “But the bottom line is when we traded for Jimmy, Draymond became our (power forward) and (center).”

Pacific Notes: Curry, LeBron, Redick, Carter

Warriors star Stephen Curry left Friday’s game in Portland with a right thumb injury, but X-rays were negative and he returned to action after getting it wrapped up, tweets Anthony Slater of The Athletic. Curry, who initially injured the thumb in January, downplayed the issue after the game and said he’ll be good to go on Sunday vs. the Clippers, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

“From what I know, just an aggravation,” Curry said. “The same thing (as the earlier thumb injury), but hopefully it wasn’t anything serious. … I just know it hurts right now, but I’ll be all right.”

The Warriors will need their top scorer at his best on Sunday — a win over L.A. would clinch a playoff spot for the team, while there’s a good chance a loss would lead to a play-in berth.

“I don’t want to be too dramatic,” Curry said when asked about Sunday’s game. “It should be like a Game 7 kind of vibe. You win and you control your destiny on a guaranteed playoffs series. If you lose, you roll the dice.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • Like Curry, Lakers forward LeBron James exited Friday’s game with an injury. However, head coach J.J. Redick told reporters, including Dave McMenamin of ESPN, that James is “fine” after appearing to tweak his left hip/groin area. With Los Angeles locked into the No. 3 seed, LeBron seems unlikely to play much – if at all – on Sunday in Portland.
  • Asked on Friday whether he finds being a head coach more rewarding than being a player, Redick quickly said yes, though the Lakers‘ coach admitted he didn’t have a great explanation for why that’s the case, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register (subscription required). “I tried to figure that out for the last six months, I’m not sure,” Redick said. “But I will say, I think anybody that was around me as a player knows how much I enjoyed the job every day and knows how grateful I was to be in the NBA every day and very grateful to have a 15-year career. I like this more.”
  • Kings rookie Devin Carter didn’t make his debut until January due to a shoulder injury and has struggled offensively, averaging just 3.8 points per game on .375/.288/.591 shooting in 35 outings (10.7 MPG). Still, he’s playing a rotation role lately for the play-in club in large part due to his contributions on the other end of the floor. “I live with a lot of what DC does offensively as he still finds his way because he is spectacular on the defensive end,” interim head coach Doug Christie told Spencer Davies of RG.org, who spoke to Carter about his first NBA season.