The play was set in motion more than an hour before tip off Friday night in Canada, Lakers guards D’Angelo Russell and Max Christie strategizing on one side of the team’s locker room as they got ready for the Raptors.
Through the first two weeks of the season, Christie had struggled.
“I’m just playing robotically,” he told people.
In his third season, now with a real role as the first player consistently off the bench, a lot of the momentum he had built over the summer and preseason was slipping away under a pile of missed shots and defensive uncertainty.
Russell saw a window to do a little something about it.
The two players talked about how when Christie checked in later that night, Russell would try to break down a defender off the dribble, allowing for Christie to quickly cut backdoor for a layup.
Read more: LeBron James and Lakers ‘take two steps forward’ in win over Raptors
It was prophetic.
On the first possession after Christie checked in midway through the first quarter, Russell dribbled with his left toward Christie in the corner. And just like they spoke about, Christie cut hard toward the rim. Russell fired a pinpoint bounce pass that found his teammate, who exploded toward the rim for the tough layup and a foul.
“Crazy, right?” Russell said with a huge smile after the game.
Christie finished the game with seven points, his best offensive output of the young season. He finished a plus-7, the first time the Lakers outscored their opponents during Christie’s minutes.
“I just find ways to make the game easier for our younger guys, try to simplify it, help them think less, help them be in a position where they can be the best in,” Russel said. “For me, I know Max is a confidence guy, so trying to instill confidence in him and keep him there no matter how the storm goes and adversity. Just keep that confidence high, you’ll be all right.”
For the Lakers, moments like this are crucial as the team tries to build trust with one another under a new coaching staff and system.
It’s specifically encouraging for Russell, whom JJ Redick pushed this summer to be a consistent vocal leader bought into winning above all else.
“It’s one of the challenges that I gave him the first day he came to the gym, and he was using his voice. He was energetic and we talked about it afterwards. And I said, that’s what I want, that’s gotta be your standard,” Redick said. “That’s gotta be who you are every day, regardless if shots are going in or not, or if you get subbed out at the end of a game. And look, he played really well tonight. He’s going to have a lot of good games where he plays well. His spirit has not diminished at all with any sort of whatever you want to call it, shooting struggles, to start the season. He’s been fantastic.
“And I think for all our guys, it’s a great example. … It’s something that we’ve talked about with a number of our older players. It’s you gotta be a leader with these young guys and help pick them up. Give, give them some confidence and it’s great to hear DLo did that.”
League reopens Jaxson Hayes investigation
Following video released early Saturday morning on TMZ’s website, the NBA is reopening an investigation into a 2021 incident in which Jaxson Hayes was arrested and charged with 12 misdemeanors including domestic battery and resisting arrest.
Hayes later plead no contest to two of the charges — false imprisonment and resisting arrest. He was sentenced to community service and probation. The NBA did not penalize him.
Security camera footage obtained by TMZ showed Hayes, then a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, and then-girlfriend Sofia Jamora in an argument. In the footage, Hayes shoves Jamora and spits at her.
“As a result of the media report and video posted [Saturday] morning, we are reopening our investigation,” NBA spokesperson Mike Bass said.
Speaking to reporters Sunday in Toronto, Redick said the team is aware of and cooperating with the league’s investigation but will not comment.
After the team signed Hayes in 2023, general manager Rob Pelinka said the Lakers took the charges “very seriously” and “do a full vetting process.”
“Jaxson has been very sincere [with] his apologies around handling that and has moved beyond it to where he’s had a year or two in the NBA playing after it,” Pelinka said. “It was something that we felt like he owned, took responsibility for it, and is going to be a better person on the other side of it.”
The Lakers play Monday in Detroit.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.