Heading into Summer League, Los Angeles Lakers fans were intrigued with what Max Christie would showcase, and he did not disappoint. The 6’6″ guard was scoring with confidence, creating shots for himself, seemingly improving his 3-point shot and unleashing his defensive potential.
After his performance in the California Classic and Las Vegas, it was clear that Christie was making his case to be a part of the rotation this upcoming season. With the way the roster has shaped out, the former Michigan State Spartan may have a chance to contribute to winning basketball as the team’s backup shooting guard.
Christie only appeared in 41 games last season, averaging 12.5 minutes, so heading into the offseason he had to put his head down and get to work. Throughout the offseason, players and coaches have noted Christie being one of the hardest workers this summer. At Lakers Media Day, the guard talked about his offseason and his ability to compete for a rotation spot this year.
“I think over the summer it was just a bunch of work, to be honest,” Christie said of how he spent his time. “Just put in as much work as I can both on the court and in the weight room as well. And then also mentally. I think if I can get my mind right, everything physical will follow suit. So for me, it was just a bunch of work all day, every day. Really it was me just trying to work as hard as I can, control what I can control which is my work ethic and my attitude and all of that work will hopefully translate over into playing this year.”
Only being 20-years-old and heading into his second season, having that explosive showing in Summer League had to be a morale boost and Christie is trying to carry that over to the NBA.
“It was really positive feedback, for sure. Just based off the Summer League performance, you look at the numbers, they were really good, especially when you look at the improvement from this Summer League to my rookie year Summer League. So it was all positive feedback and like you said, the goal was just to translate that over into training camp and preseason games and regular season games. So I think I’ll have a lot of opportunities just to try and showcase my talent and be a good part of this team and play a role on this team to help us eventually win a championship.”
The upside has definitely been shown thus far, but Christie noted that working on his body was at the forefront of what he worked on in the offseason.
“I think one of the things is learning to use my body a little bit better. I’ve gotten a lot stronger, I’ve put on a lot of mass and so being able to use those things that I gained and use those things that I added to my advantage, especially when it comes to finishing around the rim. Think that’s one of the biggest things that I’ve been using but I’d say finding ways to use my body in the correct ways so that it can benefit me both offensively and defensively.”
With training camp kicking off this week, it’ll be intriguing to see if Christie is one of the players who makes some noise amongst the other players. He also revealed that he has gained 15-20 pounds of muscle over the last year, which should help when competing against NBA competition.
It is safe to say that he’ll have a chance to prove himself once more throughout the preseason and perhaps early in the regular season as head coach Darvin Ham figures out his rotations.
L.A. confident Christie can grow into eighth or ninth man this season
It is hard to deny what the 20-year-old has shown this summer and it has caught the attention of fans and those involved with the Lakers. If Christie is able to continue his development and show strides, L.A. believes he can be the eighth or ninth man in the rotation.
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