Luka Doncic can look around at the Los Angeles Lakers roster and see plenty of new faces. There are nine players that were not on last year’s team, with the franchise completely resetting around Doncic in the offseason. But there are some familiar faces, including Jarred Vanderbilt, who the Lakers acquired in 2023 and is now the second-longest tenured member of the roster.
Vanderbilt has been an on-and-off rotation player for the Lakers over the last few years. Injuries hampered his effectiveness, but so has offensive inconsistency. He is, though, one of the best defenders on the team, and is beloved across the roster. So much so, that Doncic joked about switching places with him when asked to give one word answers, via the Lakers:
If you could switch lives with anyone on the team for a day, who would it be?
“Vando.”
What would you do?
“Shop.”
This answer from Doncic shows just how much that Vanderbilt is appreciated by his Lakers teammates. Because of the one-word nature of the video, Doncic does not get to explain why he would switch places with Vanderbilt and why he would use that switch to go shopping, but it’s a funny answer nonetheless.
The Lakers star has great chemistry with just about everyone on the team, but it’s clear that Vanderbilt is particularly loved, and it wouldn’t be the first time a superstar has felt this way about him. To this day, Vanderbilt is routinely Anthony Edwards’ answer when asked who his favorite NBA teammate is.
Vanderbilt may or may not play a role on the court for the Lakers this season, but he will certainly play a role off the court.
Luka Doncic describes Lakers as happy
As part of his one-word answer barrage, Doncic was very positive in describing the team chemistry of the Lakers. His one word was happy, showing that the team’s minicamp in Slovenia was fantastic for bonding the team like they had surely hoped.
The Lakers are hoping to develop chemistry quickly, as a majority of the other Western Conference contenders have been together for some time, while L.A. completely overhauled their roster in the offseason. Things like the Slovenia trip are how the Lakers will make up for lost time to still find themselves in the heat of the race out West.
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