When the Lakers signed 14-year veteran Antawn Jamison, many fans felt that he was the missing piece to a bench that was in dire need of some help. However for Jamison, the 2012-2013 season was very much an up-and-down affair; he battled injuries (like half the Lakers roster), struggled to earn rotation minutes and lacked the consistency to be productive on both ends of the floor whenever he played. He had some bright spots and good moments, but in the end Jamison’s tenure in a Laker uniform never worked out how he and fans imagined.
Regular Season Grade: C+
The season started very strange for Jamison. Under Mike Brown (first five games of the season) he was virtually in the dog house and never got off the bench because of his deficiencies on the defensive end. However, when Brown was relieved of his duties and the Lakers brought in Mike D’Antoni, Jamison was able to establish a rhythm offensively in D’Antoni’s free-flowing offense.
Toward the latter end of the season, Jamison had been playing his best basketball. After the All-Star break (28 games) his three-point shooting increased by 10 percent, and he averaged double-figures off the bench.
Unfortunately for Jamison he became a member of the injury-plagued Laker roster in the month of March. He suffered a sprained wrist in a matchup against the Washington Wizards that would ultimately require the need of surgery in this offseason. Despite the injury, Jamison elected to play through it as he felt his presence of the floor was needed if the Lakers were going to continue their success in the second half of the season. But despite gutting it out, he never showed the effectiveness on the offensive end that was there prior to getting hurt.
Playoff Grade: C-
Measuring Jamison’s performance in the playoffs is hard to do given the situation that the Lakers were in. He served as a decent shooter off of the bench, but beyond that he had no impact in the series. He continued to struggle on the defensive end, which ultimately was the factor that kept him off the floor in key situations.
—- Know more about Antawn Jamison’s career in this player profile! —-
Overall Grade: C
Despite struggling to find consistency this season, Jamison still proved to be a valuable asset at times. Certainly he didn’t pan out to be the player off of the bench that the Lakers envisioned, but he was a professional this season despite the challenges this team faced. With the likelihood of Jamison returning next season being slim, it’s tough to see his tenure in a Laker uniform ending this way.
