With Jaxson Hayes having to sit out the last six games due to an ankle injury and Christian Wood still not having recovered from offseason knee surgery, the Los Angeles Lakers had few options to turn to at backup center behind Anthony Davis. The lone true big was Christian Koloko, who was only recently cleared by the NBA to return to the court.
The Lakers signed Koloko to a two-way contract this summer and he was supposed to be more of a developmental project after more than a year away from basketball due to health concerns. But with no other options, head coach JJ Redick turned to Koloko and the results were solid.
While his numbers won’t jump off the page, Koloko was able to give the Lakers solid minutes in Hayes’ absence. The big man had nothing but praise for Koloko in filling that role when his name was called.
“Christian did really good. I thought he did really good, he was ready,” Hayes said. “He’d been out rehabbing like the whole summer and I think it was even before that even last year, so the fact that he was able to come in and step up like that, played big minutes and just anchored down. He was playing great on the defensive end, getting lots of blocks, rebounds and just playing where he needed to play and just filling that role. I was just really happy that he did good.”
As Hayes noted, Koloko being ready to step in and play important minutes for the Lakers this soon was nothing short of impressive. The Lakers didn’t ask too much of him, but what they did ask he was able to give them as far as rim protection, rebounding and finishing at the basket.
It certainly showed why the Lakers were willing to take a chance on Koloko. If he is able to give them solid minutes at this stage, then the potential is there for him to be more of an impact player when given some developmental time which he will be afforded now that Hayes is set to return.
Lakers’ Austin Reaves happy to have Jaxson Hayes back
Christian Koloko deserves praise for his performance, but make no mistake the Lakers are happy to have Jaxson Hayes back in the lineup and Austin Reaves spoke on that recently.
“Jaxson was playing really well before he tweaked his ankle,” Reaves said after practice on Monday. “He was playing at a high level, gave our bench unit a big boost in many aspects but one definitely was defensively. He was doing a really good job with his verticality at the rim. So he does a lot for our team and we need him. Like I said, that energy that he brings off the bench is contagious so happy to have him back.”
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