Getty Juan Toscano-Anderson and Gary Payton II celebrate with the Larry O'Brien Trophy after the Golden State Warriors' 2022 NBA championship victory.
One thing that has become abundantly clear as the Golden State Warriors have stumbled to a 3-7 start is that the club’s offseason losses were kind of a big deal. Not really a hot take, right?
While there’s no cure-all for the Dubs’ current second-unit crisis, there’s little doubt that the bench would be in a better place if Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr. were still holding it down. Those two weren’t the only players to move on over the summer, either.
He may not have been a 20-point scorer or the team’s lockdown specialist, but Juan Toscano-Anderson’s departure was a big one, too. In addition to being one of the best Warriors stories of the last decade in terms of the winding road he traveled to even make it to the NBA (let alone have any kind of impact), JTA was also a hometown hero; born and bred in the Bay.
Going beyond all that, he was also the kind of person that every organization wants in its locker room. And while he’s now receiving his paychecks from the rival Los Angeles Lakers, Toscano-Anderson is still winning over fans with his unique brand of “rad dudeness.”
Toscano-Anderson Makes Young Lakers Fan’s Birthday Even Better
shout out to juan toscano-anderson forever, this made me so happy to see
Toscano-Anderson was in attendance for the grand opening of the new WSS location in Anaheim on Saturday, meeting fans and signing autographs. But he wasn’t content to simply go through the motions of your average meet and greet. Rather, he took the opportunity to make the day of a young Lakers fan.
As relayed by Chris Montano via Twitter (see the video embedded above), JTA was posing for a picture with the boy when the former Warrior discovered that he was about to celebrate a birthday.
“Happy birthday!” Toscano-Anderson said upon learning about the big day. Then, as the boy was walking away, the Lakers wing made him an incredible offer.
“What are you going to do for your birthday?” he asked. “You should come to the Lakers game. I’ll give you tickets for your birthday.”
“Actually?!” the boy replied before Toscano-Anderson confirmed he would soon be making the trip to Crypto.com Arena.
At the time of this writing, the video of the exchange has racked up nearly 400,000 views.
JTA, Lakers Off to a Slow Start
The Lakers’ struggles have been well-publicized as the imperfect amalgamation of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook attempts to function while surrounded by an odd mix of supporting cast members. There’s also a first-time head coach in the mix in former baller and longtime NBA assistant Darvin Ham.
Entering Monday’s games, the Lake Show was just one of two clubs in the Wild West with a record worse than that of the Warriors (at 2-7). Meanwhile, Toscano-Anderson continues to fight for minutes, just as he did in Golden State last season.
To date, he has made six appearances for the Lakers, averaging 3.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 15.3 minutes per contest. Along the way, he has connected on 41.2% of his shot attempts and just 11.1% of his tries from deep.
While those numbers are nothing to write home about, the Lakers have been 4.2 points per 100 possessions better defensively with JTA on the court.