Ben Mclemore rolled up to his Los Angeles Lakers exit interview in a Space Jam 2 shirt before waxing poetic on his past and future with the Purple and Gold.
Mclemore averaged 8.0 points per game with the Lakers over roughly 17.5 minutes in 21 games after being added off waivers in order to bring some much-needed shooting to the roster.
It was known at the time that his role wouldn’t be big given the amount of depth on the roster, but McLemore was able to fill in admirably when he saw time while other key players missed time due to injury.
Even though the season didn’t end how McLemore or the Lakers wanted, overall, he felt he lived up to his expectations and enjoyed his time in L.A.
They gave me a great opportunity to be here and be a part of this great organization. I did exactly what they expected me to do and you know we definitely had high expectations obviously last night was tough and it’s going to be tough for a while, but this is a great organization that has bounced back from things like this before.”
Mclemore was originally ‘thrilled’ to join the Lakers and play with superstar LeBron James. He referred to it as ‘a great feeling to be playing with the best player in the world.’
Mclemore seemed to be clear on what Frank Vogel wanted from him right out of the gate. Vogel is known for communicating openly with his players and this seemed to be no exception.
“Absolutely, from Day 1. They wanted when they signed me, the communication was there. Obviously, like I said with the opportunity given every day it’s the next guy or if the guys go down or whenever a guy goes down the next guy is ready and the next guy is going to be given an opportunity to go out there and perform at a high level and he made it clear from the jump.”
The Lakers may have to shake some things up this summer so it will be interesting to see if McLemore sticks around.
Mclemore discusses future with Lakers
Mclemore’s status going into the offseason is unclear. However, the Lakers can use the spacing so keeping Mclemore around when the team has had more time together could be worthwhile.
His use of the past tense in his exit interview could be concerning, but he also sound genuinely grateful for his time with the Lakers.
“Um, we’ll see. You know it’s a business. We’ll see how things go, but obviously my time here was amazing. I appreciate Rob and Frank giving me the opportunity to be on this great big platform with the Lakers and playing with these group of guys, it was amazing.”
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