Lakers’ Adou Thiero Makes Candid Admission After Scary Dunk vs. Warriors

After an impressive preseason-opening win against the Sacramento Kings, the Los Angeles Lakers came back down to earth a bit in the second game of a back-to-back against Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night at the Chase Center.

The main reason for the Lakers’ struggles against the Warriors was the fact that half the roster was ruled out ahead of the game. Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton, Matissse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams and Arthur Kaluma were all parked on the bench, while Quentin Grimes and the rest of the squad couldn’t keep up with the Warriors.

One of the few highlights of the night for the Lakers came from second-year forward Adou Thiero, who is always pure entertainment whenever he’s on the floor due to the incredible athleticism that allows him to play above the rim.

Adou Thiero Admits Needing to Be More Careful With His Dunks

During the loss to the Warriors, Thiero took flight in epic fashion for the first time in the preseason, throwing it down on two defenders, but landed awkwardly, raising concerns that he may have seriously injured himself.

ADOU THIERO RISE UP

OH MY GOODNESS. 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/vWj7LPmWY7
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 7, 2026

Fortunately, Thiero was fine despite the awkward landing, but this isn’t the first time this has happened.

After the game, the talented high flyer addressed the need to be more careful when playing above the rim to avoid injury, via Spectrum SportsNet.

"JJ came in and let us know straightforward what it was and I feel like we did a better job going out there and meeting his expectations."

Adou Thiero (17 MIN, 7 PTS, and 4 REB) discusses the message JJ told the team in the locker room at half and when to use his athleticism. pic.twitter.com/J1xrMiMxND
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 7, 2026

“It was awkward, but I’m fine coming out of it,” Thiero said. “Definitely will be better about it. But there are some situations where it’s difficult to worry about the landing, but it’s definitely still something on my radar.”

There’s no question that Thiero is athletically gifted and could have a bright future with the Lakers if he can continue to improve on both ends of the floor.

However, he can’t continue to develop if he’s not playing due to injury because one of these crazy dunks went wrong on the way down. He knows he has to get better with his decision-making when using that athleticism.

“I'll say I just felt like I've been getting better with it throughout the summer and realizing when to use my athleticism,” Thiero said. “But then again, I feel like there's also times where I'll be able to jump with three people and still go dunk the ball. So just me having that confidence in myself and knowing what I can do in each situation.”

Even though Thiero can be a bit wild because he’s so physically gifted and can do things that most players simply can’t do, head coach JJ Redick seems quite fond of him and loves the energy and effort he gives defensively.

The Arkansas product has a chance to play a significant role on this new-look Lakers team during the 2026-27 NBA season, but he definitely needs to be more cautious when playing above the rim or he’ll miss out on his opportunity this year.

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