Among the Los Angeles Lakers’ reverence as a franchise, their storied history of big men and the substantial trade the Lakers made to acquire him this summer, Walker Kessler is, unfairly or otherwise, entering a pressurized situation. But according to his head coach, JJ Redick, the 25-year-old is ready for the challenges and incubated by plenty of people and resources to make the experience as easy as possible for him.
“I think he wants to embrace that. I think that’s why he wanted to be a Laker and
why he wanted to be here was because of the fact that there are stakes every single night when you wear a Lakers uniform,” Redick told reporters postgame on Friday. “We’ve had a number of conversations. We had a long conversation the other day about it. I think the awareness is there. How you navigate that early on, how you navigate that in your first year, there’s no way to predict that because you’ve never dealt with it before.
“But he’s got great support around him. His agent, Aaron Mintz, has been a longtime friend of mine. I’m here to help him. We’re all here to support him. All these guys that haven’t gone through it, there’s nothing like it. I think they all want to embrace it. They all have a chip on their shoulder about it and they want to make Lakers fans proud and I know they will.”
Kessler clearly recognizes the positive environment being fostered and sounds as though he’s taking a healthy approach to all of it, excited for the chance he’s afforded to play for such a renowned organization.
“The support system around me, with my teammates, the coaching staff, front office, I mean, they’re fantastic,” Kessler said following Los Angeles’ preseason finale. “They’re very vocal about, obviously being a Lakers big, there’s a certain legacy with that, but not to look at it as pressure, more so as an opportunity. So that’s kind of the attitude I’m going in with it.”
After appearing in the Lakers’ final two preseason outings, Kessler will make his regular-season debut Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors, where he’ll take his first genuine crack at proving himself on the court to the Lakers and their fanbase.
You can follow Jackson on Twitter at @jackfrank_jjf.
