Jake LaRavia did not have a good month of December when it came to shooting the ball. The Los Angeles Lakers forward shot 41.0% from the field and 25.7% from 3-point range over 12 games, to go along with a minus-57 and 14 turnovers compared with 21 assists. He was not playing like he was earlier in the season or like the player the Lakers signed to a two-year contract this offseason.
But when the calendar flipped to 2026, LaRavia made sure not to lose his confidence and to find his way through the slump. The Lakers also showed faith in him by moving him into the starting lineup amid injuries to Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. His response showed exactly why the Lakers wanted him.
He has scored 47 total points in the two January wins over the Memphis Grizzlies, hitting 17 of his 28 field goal attempts and seven of his 16 3-point attempts. He has six assists compared with only one turnover and was a plus-15 over the two games.
LaRavia never lost faith in his abilities, and part of that came from the consistent trust he got from his teammates and staff.
“I think I’m just trusting the work that I’ve been putting in recently,” he said. “Obviously, [my] shot was struggling early on and Coach was telling me [and] players telling me just keep shooting the ball. They trust me, I trust myself so it’s really just about going into the game and doing it.”
That built-in trust from his teammates and coaches likely comes from his mentality on and off the floor of doing what he’s told and working on what the team needs from him.
“I just feel like I’m very much a player where when you tell me the things that you want me to do, I’m going to just go out there and do them,” LaRavia said. “I’ve had plenty of conversations with JJ [Redick], with my coach Beau [Levesque] and they tell me what they want me to do out there and I just go out there and I try my best to do that every game.
“Shots aren’t going to fall every game but I can control the effort that I bring to the game. Crashing every time, they talk about offensive crash rate. Just trying to do that every night and just bring in energy to this team.”
The Lakers desperately needed that from LaRavia, both being shorthanded and reeling in recent weeks amid injuries and poor performance. They now have back-to-back wins over the Grizzlies and can go for three in a row against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday. LaRavia’s turnaround came at the perfect time, too, as he got to do it against his former Grizzlies.
“I had my game against them when I was with Sacramento after they traded me. It’s fun to play against the guys that I know. But there’s nothing outside of just the fact that it’s a regular game,” LaRavia said.
LaRavia is going to continue being a big piece for the Lakers, especially with players out of the lineup. But he is one of the closest things to a two-way wing L.A. has, and that is the skillset they are desperately missing. He’s going to have to do what he can to fill that role, and showed what he can do with it the last two games.
Lakers’ Rui Hachimura out next two games
Lakers head coach JJ Redick revealed that Rui Hachimura (calf) will miss at least the next two games, as he won’t travel with L.A. on the road to New Orleans or San Antonio. That puts his earliest possible return date as Friday at home against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
