A couple of trends emerged in the Lakers’ offseason. They focused on getting younger and added more athleticism to the lineup.
They also got more white.
It was the joke that has largely bubbled under the surface. It wasn’t a trend that started this offseason as Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves were around before the summer, as were Jake LaRavia and Dalton Knecht. But the acquisition of Walker Kessler and the signing of Sandro Mamukelashvili made it one of those jokes everyone knows but no one mentions.
Except head coach JJ Redick just said the quiet part out loud at his Media Day presser on Thursday. After mentioning earlier in the presser that starting spots were up for grabs, Redick was asked to clarify if he meant multiple spots or just one.
“I’m pretty confident in three of the spots,” Redick said, referring to Luka, Austin and Kessler. “The other two spots will not be two white guys. Those are the two things I’m confident.”
Well, that’s one way to address the growing elephant in the room.
Fair play, though. It was going to be the joke everyone made all season, so just addressing it kind of takes the sting out of it.
You have to feel bad for LaRavia and Mamu — and Knecht, I suppose — as they will be fighting it out for one starting spot now. Realistically, it would be a surprise if Quentin Grimes is not a starter, so it never really felt like there were multiple starting spots up for grabs, or that the Lakers might have an All-White starting five.
But none of this means they won’t have an All-White lineup at some point this season.
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