Lakers player Jarred Vanderbilt is being called out for returning his clothes after he took a picture with them on IG.
The Lakers, somewhat surprisingly, claimed Game 1 by the final score of 117-112 to steal home-court advantage from the Golden State Warriors, only to get routed 127-100 in Game 2 on Thursday.
However, Vanderbilt has been assigned to guard Stephen Curry, and he has done a fairly good job on him so far.
Curry shot 10-of-24 and committed five turnovers in Game 1, and although he shot the ball well on Thursday, he got off only 12 shot attempts and scored just 20 points.
Instead, it was Klay Thompson who killed Los Angeles in Game 2. He made eight 3-pointers and ended up with 30 points, and he keyed the Warriors’ extended run in the second and third quarters that broke the game open.
Prior to that run, the Lakers led 33-26 at the end of the first period and appeared to have a real shot at going up 2-0 in the series, which would’ve put Golden State in the basketball equivalent of the intensive care unit.
In what should be considered the biggest no-brainer in franchise history, Jovan Buha of The Athletic reports that the Lakers are planning to bring Jarred Vanderbilt back for the 2023-24 season. Vanderbilt has a $4.64 million team option next season.
Vanderbilt is the new version of Alex Caruso — a hard-nosed defender that fans love because he plays the game the right way. Los Angeles is avoiding disaster by letting him walk similarly to Caruso and by making this choice, it also ensures that the team will avoid making another disastrous move as well.
There has already been speculation that the purple and gold have no real interest in Kyrie Irving this offseason and that the team wants to keep together its young core. While that is all promising, you never know what can happen in the NBA and all it takes is one early playoff exit and pressure from LeBron James to make it a possibility.
However, the team already reportedly committing to bringing Vanderbilt back is showing that they are serious about bringing the young core back. Because if Kyrie comes to LA, it is likely going to have to come via the sign-and-trade variety.
