The Los Angeles Lakers will not have their ideal starting five until several weeks into the NBA season. Even though there is much hype around Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, those two will not be on the court together for quite some time. Nash will be ready for the upcoming season once it’s time to play, but Howard will still be rehabbing his back injury.
The Lakers understood that Howard’s back injury was a serious problem before the deal went down and there was always speculation that he would miss some playing time. As a result, the Lakers will have to wait before Howard hits the court and that means the role players must fill the void with the center gone.
One of the key off-season acquisitions for the Lakers besides Nash and Howard was Antawn Jamison. The Lakers greatly improved their bench with that one signing, and he will carry a lot of the load while Howard is rehabbing. However, the Los Angeles Times writes that Jamison is willing to do whatever it takes in order to win basketball games.
“That’s something I knew coming in that there would be times I’m playing significant amount of minutes or times I’d have a certain role coming off the bench,” said Jamison, who’s played both as a starter and reserve in his 14-year career. “Fortunately for me, I’ve been in just about every scenario you can imagine. Whether it’s starting for a couple games, keeping my role in coming off the bench … I will come in and help out this team as much as possible. Whatever is asked of me to do, I’ll do it.”
Jamison was a star for the Washington Wizards several years back and led the team to many playoff appearances. Although Jamison is no longer an All-Star caliber player, he can bring a lot to this Lakers team.
There is obviously the veteran leadership, which is also present in Kobe Bryant and the other Lakers stars. The Lakers’ bench was one of the least productive benches in the league last season, so adding Jamison automatically makes the reserves better. Jamison can stretch the floor with his shooting and he can be counted on in the clutch.
Even though the Lakers will lose a lot with Howard not playing, the team is happy to have a player like Jamison coming off the bench and filling the void.
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Here’s Antawn Jamison talking about joining the Lakers and what he expects in Los Angeles.
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