LOS ANGELES — That Lakers’ chemistry experiment we were discussing three weeks ago, with nine new players including a center who had mainly been discussed in terms of potential rather than performance? The opening night reviews suggested that it might be a slam dunk after all.
Read more Drummond: 26-year-old law regulate campaigns for Yorba Linda council
Um, too soon?
Say this, at least: Walker Kessler, the 7-foot-2 center for whom Rob Pelinka traded two first-round draft picks and agreed to two additional first-round pick swaps to the Utah Jazz, and then signed to a four-year, $130 million contract, put his name in the same sentence with a couple of those guys who have retired jerseys posted on the wall of the Lakers’ downtown arena.
In Wednesday night’s resounding 127-105 thumping of the Golden State Warriors, Kessler was perfect, 12 for 12 from the field – his field, basically, being the immediate radius of the rim – in a 26-point night. That was the best one-game field goal percentage by a Laker since March 11, 1969, when Wilt Chamberlain went 14 for 14 from the field – and, amazingly given his reputation, 6 for 9 from the free-throw line – in a 34-point, 27-rebound night and a 137-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons.
To temper the enthusiasm somewhat: That night the 7-1 Chamberlain was going against 6-11 Walt Bellamy, the Pistons’ starter, and 6-11 backup Otto Moore. Kessler was facing 6-6 Draymond Green, pressed into service at center because 7-2 Kristaps Porzingis remains unavailable to the Warriors, or backup Al Horford, listed at 6-8.
Ten of those Kessler baskets were dunks, and according to ESPN that was the most by a Laker since Shaquille O’Neal in a 2003 game. And leave it to Shaq, on that network’s “Inside The NBA” postgame session, to give Kessler the nickname: “Milk Chamberlain.”
But any enthusiasm for Kessler – and there was a lot of it, with the new big guy drawing a standing ovation when he left the floor for the final time with 6:05 remaining in the game and the Lakers leading by 33 – was less about the numbers and more about what, at least on opening night, seemed to be a seamless fit.
His first basket as a Laker, less than two minutes into the first quarter? An alley-oop dunk off a lob from Luka Dončić, and you might want to get used to that. And early in the second half, Dončić fired a behind-the-back strike under the basket that Kessler turned into a dunk.
“Just the way he saw when I was driving, he stepped up,” Dončić said. “When I was doubled, he played in the pocket. … Even if it looks easy, it’s not easy for sure. I’ve got to work for the ball to get in his hand (to) make that dunk. But obviously it was easier with him on the court.
“But that was just the first game. I think our ceiling is even higher.”
In all likelihood, this was what Luka was visualizing, and what Pelinka acted on, in building a roster to fully take advantage of Dončić’s skills. And in addition to a big guy who can finish, they got a big guy who can run the floor.
“Yeah, contrary to my name, I run a lot,” Kessler cracked in the interview room, and when the assemblage broke out in laughter, he added, “I’m glad y’all got that.
“I’ve always been like that,” he added. “I think when I run, it keeps me engaged in the game. I mean, there’s only times where I’ll run needlessly, just because. Every once in a while, one might come off the rim, whether on offense or defense, might get a rebound or a putback, and then it opens up a lot of the shooters on the perimeter.”
Read more Anaheim briefs: Celebrate Halloween with festival and 103-year-old parade
It is worth noting that this was Kessler’s first official NBA game in nearly a year. His last game, as a member of the Utah Jazz, was last Halloween against the Phoenix Suns, right before labrum surgery that would finish his season.
Just playing in an NBA regular-season game after that long a wait was exciting. To do so for one of the NBA’s glamour franchises, with all of those jerseys of Hall of Fame big men on the wall?
“I definitely was a little nervous going into the game, but just so thankful and so grateful for how it went,” he said, adding that his comfort level as the game progressed was largely because of Dončić, Austin Reaves and the other guys throwing him the ball.
“I think just being in the right spots and being vertical and just trying to dunk everything – that’s really the biggest thing, is having the attitude and mentality to try and dunk everything.”
And, crucially, being alert.
“Just be ready to catch the ball,” he said with a laugh. “You know it can come at any point. I mean, there was one lob, I didn’t look, I was rolling to the basket, and I looked back, and the ball was in the air. I didn’t dunk this one, I laid it up. … Now I got to be better about being ready for any kind of ball that comes from any area.”
Is Kessler easy to play with?
“Oh, for sure,” said forward Ziaire Williams, the former Sierra Canyon High star who is another of the Lakers’ nine newcomers. “Love playing with Walk, man.
“He’s the anchor of our defense. You hear his voice at all times, guarding players, guarding guards out on the perimeter. The best thing you could have is just a unit and a big man yelling behind you where everything is going on, so you’re just aware of the court and your surroundings.”
All in all, this was a good start for the (literally) biggest acquisition of the summer, and now the opening night butterflies are out of the way.
“Whether he had played a year and a half for the last year and a half or not, I think it’s a big deal when it’s your first game as a Laker,” Coach JJ Redick said. “We’ve had conversations. He understands what this is and the pressures that come with it. I think that it was a good opening statement for him.”
He has definitely started out on the right foot with a demanding fan base. That helps, too.
Read more Fryer: Santa Margarita football as good as last year’s championship team?