Injury-Riddled Laker Sounds off After Huge Preseason Showing

Getty Kendrick Nunn, Lakers

SAN FRANCISCO — If there is one thing that can be gleaned from the three preseason games the Lakers have played so far this October, it’s that the team probably missed guard Kendrick Nunn more than most could realize when he was forced out of all of last season with a persistent knee injury. After the stellar play of big man Anthony Davis, Nunn’s consistency and hot shooting have been the story of the Lakers’ exhibition slate.

Nunn is averaging 17.0 points in just 21.5 minutes per game, shooting 60.6% from the field and 52.9% from the 3-point line. He is the team’s second-leading scorer after Davis, and had 21 points in the Lakers’ win here over the Warriors on Sunday.

“Just my skill set,” Nunn said after the game. “You know what I am saying, my skill set comes into play, as a floor-spacer with whoever is on the floor with me and guys involved are scoring the ball.”

Should Kendrick Nunn Be a Starter?

One of the questions around the Lakers entering the season remains which players will fill out the starting five around LeBron James, Davis and Russell Westbrook—presumably, there will be a center and a shooting guard on the floor, too. Nunn has staked a claim to one of those spots, as the shooting guard next to Westbrook.

Coach Darvin Ham has also he could move Davis to center. But either way only one of a group of guards is likely to start—Nunn, Dennis Schroder, Patrick Beverley, Austin Reaves or Lonnie Walker. Maybe Ham will ultimately decide he wants Nunn’s scoring punch off the bench, but no one has made a stronger case to be a starter.

“Kendrick has worked over the summer and proved that he was committed to not only getting healthy, but getting healthy and trying to take his game to the next level,” Ham said last week. “Just to see him in there daily, it was a while before I could even go on vacation, all the time I’m in the office every day, I see him downstairs. I come down, talk to him, greet him and constantly reassure him and motivate him like in terms of what his role is going to be in all of this. He’s champing at the bit.”

‘It’s Been a Minute’ for Nunn

No wonder Nunn is eager. After establishing himself with the Heat in his first two NBA seasons, averaging 15.0 points in 123 games, he suffered a tough blow last year when a seemingly routine training camp knee injury turned into a season-long ordeal. Nunn did not play at all.

“It’s been a minute,” Nunn said on Sunday. “It was a long summer, I had a couple times where I had a couple setbacks in the summer, I just had to dial back my workouts a little bit, but I was able to put enough work in for the summer to be able to be prepared for the season.”

He said the main issue for the Lakers, who finally won their first preseason game in two years, is to get the defense together.

“We are going to score the ball,” Nunn said, “we have a lot of talent in this locker room, so I am not really worried about the offensive side, so just getting down on the defensive side and getting some stops, that’s what our main priority is.”