One of the biggest reasons the Los Angeles Lakers were able to rescue themselves and go from mediocrity to championship contention last season was Jarred Vanderbilt.
The 6-foot-8 forward was one of the main players they acquired prior to the trade deadline in February. He quickly emerged as a versatile defensive standout, and with his help, they finished the regular season with a big sprint and made it to the Western Conference finals.
Buy Lakers TicketsVanderbilt was recently rewarded with a four-year, $48 million contract extension. He turned 24 years of age on April 3, and he has plenty of room for improvement, especially on the offensive end.
While on the “Run Your Race” podcast, he talked about his experience with the Purple and Gold. One topic he addressed was the team’s fan base across the nation and how the environment of playing for the Lakers is so much different from that of the Utah Jazz, his previous team (h/t Lakers Nation).
“Their fan base is like no other fan base. Everywhere you go, it’s just like a movie. Like it really is, there’s just no other way to put it. Obviously the lights are brighter and you’re on TV every game. Like in Utah, we maybe had only a couple TV games, and now you’re playing every night on the biggest stage. So I would say it was just night and day coming from Utah. And the approach was different just ’cause because now we were competing. We went from, like, we weren’t really trying to win at that point — a little bit, but we weren’t pushing winning. And now it was almost like championship or bust. The whole approach changed and we didn’t have any time to waste when we got traded because we were already in the hole, so we got straight to it. But playing for the Lakers is definitely like no other fan base, for sure.”
While the Jazz began what could be a long rebuilding process last season, the Lakers re-entered the business of playing for a world championship right after Vanderbilt came to town. The fan base he talked about quickly embraced him as a fan favorite because of his ability and willingness to get things done on the defensive end.
Vanderbilt has benefitted from playing with the Lakers' two superstars
Playing with the Lakers these days means spending time with and around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. It provides young players such as Vanderbilt with an immense opportunity to learn from two of the game’s best, not just in terms of how to play the game, but also in terms of what to do off the court to be at one’s best.
The forward talked about what it has been like to be a teammate of both James and Davis.
“Just being able to be around them and learn from them and watch how they approach the game and practice and everything, they are just so efficient in what they do on and off the court. Having guys like that, they just made the game so much easier for you, they’re such high IQ, high-level players that made our jobs easier. Guys like me, (Malik Beasley), (D’Angelo Russell) and Rui (Hachimura), everybody that came in we were able to play alongside those guys. And I think that’s why we were able to take off because we complemented what they needed at the time. Playing with them is basically just them leading the way, especially coming in midseason, for those guys to just accept you and teach you, they made our transition so much smoother. And we just started clicking. I think we were connected at the time even though it was a short time.”
Once Vanderbilt, Beasley, Russell and Hachimura got up to speed, the Lakers were reborn as an elite team, especially on the defensive end. With the core returning, it will have the benefit of a full training camp together. As a result, the sky could be the limit for the team this season.
