One can make a strong case that in his heart Turiaf is and will always be a Laker, no matter what team he plays for. See, the bond between the Lakers and Ronny goes deeper than usual. After standing out at Gonzaga, Turiaf was drafted by the purple and gold in 2005, and immediately the organization asked him to undergo open heart surgery to fix a condition in his aorta that had been dismissed by previous doctors.
The team assumed the risk of losing him as a player while paying for all medical expenses, so in a sense, the first thing the Lakers did for Ronny could have been saving his heart and life, in addition to giving him a job in the best ball club in history.
Talk about heart warming starts. Ronny hasn’t forgotten about that one, and when he joined the New York Knicks last summer he thanked the Lakers and specifically Phil Jackson for their support during one of the most difficult moments in his life. Of course the surgery was successful, and Ronny is always quick to dismiss the rumors that he cannot play for more than 20 minutes.
Next: Ronny Vs. Pau