The Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks face off on Tuesday night in a game that is absolutely flooded with storylines. The biggest is Luka Doncic’s first game against his former team, and the next is Anthony Davis’ return to Los Angeles. Davis is out and the game is not in Dallas, lessening the impact of both stories.
However, it is also the return to L.A. for Max Christie. The third-year guard plays his first game back in Los Angeles after he was dealt to Dallas as part of the Doncic trade. The 22-year-old had truly been rounding into form and becoming an incredible role player in L.A. when the trade happened at the beginning of February, and he has only elevated his game since.
In eight games as a Maverick, Christie is averaging 15.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists on 50.0% from the field, 43.6% from three and 84.0% from the free throw line. He scored at least 15 points in his first seven games with the team.
Christie has had a little under a month to reflect on the craziest day of his professional career up to this point, and spoke about what the trade and the aftermath was for him, according to Marc J. Spears via Andscape:
“I had my suspicions when I got that call,” Christie, 22, told Andscape after a 126-102 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. “The emotions at that moment obviously were pretty overwhelming. And then going back to the hotel room, I got zero seconds of sleep that night. I was up from 12 [a.m.] to 8:15 [a.m.] I had a flight the next morning at 8:30 to go to Dallas. I was in denial a little bit, at first. I can’t believe this is happening…
“If you look at the magnitude of that trade, it magnifies that emotion. So, I was shocked, man. I was on the floor in the hotel room for two hours just thinking about what was going on. I eventually came to my senses, obviously, and had to put one foot in front of the other and think about what I needed to do next. So far, I’ve had a good job just kind of settling in and just trying to stay present. That’s the biggest thing for me is just being present here, trying to help this team win games.”
The young 3-and-D guard absolutely could be using the trade as motivation to go in and play his best against his former team. However, Christie is taking a far more mature approach to his return, simply viewing it as a chance to see old friends and hopefully get a victory for his team:
“I’m not even looking at this game as a ‘revenge game,’” Christie said. “I’m actually looking forward to it from a sense that I get to see old teammates, old colleagues, old coaches. I’m looking forward to just enjoying that game. I want to win, obviously. The Lakers are a playoff team. They’re really, really good. It’s a good test for us as a matchup, as a team as well.
“But I’m not going in there with any bad blood or any intention of trying to drop 40 on them. I’m just going in there to try to win the game, play my game and let the game come to me. I’m not going to go out there and force 25 shots. That’s not what this game is about. That’s not what I’m about.”
There is a reason Christie developed such a positive reputation among the fanbase and the franchise during his 2.5 years in L.A. He is a talented and level-headed young player who works hard and simply wants his team to win. He has qualities that any fan and organization roots for.
He’ll certainly receive a welcome reception when he takes the floor for the Mavericks in L.A. on Tuesday night, but after that Christie will focus on trying to beat his former team.
JJ Redick invested in Max Christie for rest of career
If Max Christie developed one huge fan over the past few months, it’s Lakers head coach JJ Redick. The first-time head coach came into the season with a plan to heavily feature Christie, and that paid off instantly in the short time he was on the Lakers roster.
Now that he’s in Dallas, Redick plans to continue rooting for Christie and watching him succeed in a different uniform.
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