After getting selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2022 NBA Draft, Max Christie came into a positive learning environment due to the veterans he got to be around from day one. He got to learn from Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley during their respective tenures, but also two future Hall of Famers in LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Since L.A. is trying to win championships in every season, there is a lot to take in being a part of one of the most popular franchises in all of sports. However, being around some of the greatest players to play in the NBA will speed up the learning process due to how extensive an NBA season is.
Particularly with James, now in his 21st season, he has experienced a lot in his career, something that benefit young players when adjusting to the NBA lifestyle. In his one-and-a-half seasons with the Lakers, Christie learned the importance of recovery since being teammates with James and the mental aspect of basketball, via Lamar Odom’s ‘LADE Show’:
“I would say, the first thing that comes to mind, especially with Bron is his recovery process. So, that’s the first thing I really wondered coming in, like dude’s been at it for 20-21 years now and he’s been so dominant every year. And so, I’m wondering how are you recovering so fast? How are you still at that, how is your body not breaking down, right? Just watching how he goes about that with ice and saunas and treatment and massage and so much stuff. I try to adapt as much of that as possible. I don’t really try to copy it, but I like to sort of mold it into my own process and my own routine. I would say the biggest thing I’ve learned just from observing everybody really is, you know everybody says the season is like a marathon, right? It’s a long season and I think when everybody says that they’re really talking about like the physical aspect of it. You know how your body is breaking down, all this travel and what not, but to me, I think the hardest part of being in the league is the mental side of the game. Obviously, on the court, you know playing the game within the game, but also off the court too. All the travel, a lot of the games you know, I feel like in my situation too, where you got to stay ready all the time. I think that’s one of the hardest thing that I’ve ever done, playing some games, not playing other games, not knowing when you’re going to play and it’s really difficult. It’s really tough and I think even this year now, last year I didn’t play at all post trade deadline. Now, I’ve carved a little bit more of a role and I’m still playing a little bit more, but it’s tough man. I mean there’s games where I don’t know if I’m playing then there’s games where all of a sudden I’m playing 25 minutes.
While Christie has yet to finish his sophomore season, he is picking up on a lot of the nuances of playing at the highest level. Experiencing these mental hurdles now will only help him down the line as learning how to recover is a big part of staying healthy and maintaining a long playing career.
Max Christie takes inspiration from D’Angelo Russell’s mental approach to each game
James is not the only player Christie is learning from, as he also picked up some inspiration from D’Angelo Russell’s mental approach to every game.
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