Lakers News: Oft-Injured LA Reclamation Project Reflects On Journey Back To NBA
Two-way Los Angeles Lakers center Harry Giles III, the former No. 20 pick in the 2017 draft out of Duke, has taken an arduous and circuitous path back to the league, after injuries threatened to boot him out of the NBA for good.
Giles incurred a season-ending knee injury as an affiliate player for the LA Clippers' NBAGL affiliate, the Agua Caliente Clippers, midway through the 2021-22 season. The 6'10" vet, 25, was out of the G League and the NBA in 2022-23, before finally latching on with the Brooklyn Nets earlier this year.
He appeared in 16 contests for the Brooklyn Nets, before being cut from the team in February. He inked a two-way agreement with LA in March. Giles has appeared in just seven games as a deep-bench reserve for the Lakers, averaging just 2.7 minutes per. He's logged solid stats for the South Bay Lakers, LA's G League affiliate squad. In four games, he averaged 11.8 points on 46.3% shooting from the field, 9.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 0.5 blocks and 0.5 steals a night.
Injury issues have plagued Giles for much of his career. He tore his right ACL during his senior season of high school at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. Giles played just 26 games during his one-and-done season with the Blue Devils, averaging 3.9 points and 3.8 boards per.
He recently sat down with David Yapkowitz of ClutchPoints to talk about how he has powered his way back into the NBA.
“You got to just be positive with yourself. You’re going to have your days where you feel like you can’t do it, you feel like it’s over,” Giles told Yapkowitz. “But it’s all about believing, sometimes you got to just force yourself to believe so that you can get where you’re going.”
“Every day counts, it’s tough. It can go either way whenever but you can’t really think about it. You always got to treat it as if it is guaranteed,” Giles said. “Guaranteed or not, anything can always happen. For me I just try to be positive, I don’t even think about that s---, I just work hard and just get ready for the next play. Put all my belief in God and trust in my work.”
