Lakers News: Tristan Thompson Reflects On Life As Late-Season LA Addition
After not signing with a franchise all season, Tristan Thompson finally found a home on the final day of the 2022-23 regular season when he inked a deal to join your Los Angeles, along with combo guard Shaquille Harrison. While Harrison has played spot minutes (well, spot seconds) in LA's two playoff games against the Memphis Grizzlies thus far, Thompson has yet to leave the team's bench, given that he's slotted behind Wenyen Gabriel and Mo Bamba in the club's big man rotation -- and Gabriel and Bamba have both already been squeezed from the Lakers' playoff lineups.
Thompson spoke with Jovan Buha of The Athletic about his fit with Los Angeles and how he's hoping to help the club during its playoff run.
Buha notes that the Lakers front office added Thompson with the hope that he can function as a bit of a player-coach, and that his championship experience and friendship with now-Lakers teammate LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers are just bonus perks.
“Whenever you’re adding a guy late season, it’s about high character and some one that can mesh a locker room,” Thompson told Buha. “Someone that’s not going to be a black plague or bring the morale down. It’s not about, ‘Hey, can you get the ball on the block and score 15 points?’
“No, the team dynamic is already set. Especially a team like this. They already have a foundation. It’s how can you be a valuable asset to this team to move forward?”
Thompson, who makes his offseason home in Hidden Hills, had been paying attention to LA throughout its up-and-down 43-39 season.
“I was watching all their games,” Thompson said. “Studied their offensive, defensive schemes very heavily just because it was always a situation that I wanted to be a part of.”
He initially worked out for the club in March, and felt like he played sufficiently enough to impress LA executives thanks to a rigorous eight-month, in-season regimen that saw him lifting for two hours at 6 a.m. and then running through basketball exercises at 8 a.m.
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