The Los Angeles Lakers added a pair of promising young players in the 2023 NBA Draft in guard Jalen Hood-Schifino and wing Maxwell Lewis. Both bring a different skillset to this Lakers team and the hope is that they will grow into important pieces on the way to the franchise’s 18th NBA Championship.
If they are lucky enough, perhaps one of these two rookies could become one of the Lakers’ new stars that can help carry the team into the future much like Kobe Bryant did a couple of decades ago. Kobe is arguably the greatest and most beloved player to ever put on the purple and gold and the late superstar had an impact on many around the world.
Lewis, the Lakers’ second-round pick, is from the West having attended high school in Arizona and playing college ball at nearby Pepperdine University. In the introductory press conference for the rookies, he would reveal that his fandom of Bryant began due to his dad’s own fandom of the Lakers.
“First off, my Dad put a Lakers fathead in my room of Kobe so I always seen that,” Lewis said. “I just always been around Lakers. He always took me on the weekend just to go in LA around his old stomping grounds and stuff. But just his mentality, just how much he works. I watch his motivation videos in the morning sometimes, just little things like that just to keep it installed in my head about how just how hard he worked.”
That Mamba Mentality is something that many people have applied in order to become the best version of themselves. Giving everything you have and fulfilling your full potential is something that so many people push to do.
And that is something that stood out for Hood-Schifino growing up as well. “When I was younger watching him, I’m watching him from a lens of just seeing how talented he is on the court, obviously he’s one of the best players to play the game,” the Lakers’ first-round pick added.
“As I got older and I started to understand what he stood for and what the Mamba Mentality was, that’s kinda when I really just was attracted to Kobe as far as his mindset and what he stood for. And those are habits that I tried to instill into myself.”
As long as Hood-Schifino and Lewis embrace that Mamba Mentality and put the work in, they have the skillsets to stay in the NBA For a very long time which is exactly what the Lakers wanna see.
Competing on defense is best way for Jalen Hood-Schifino & Maxwell Lewis to earn minutes with Lakers
Where Hood-Schifino and Lewis will first need to show that work ethic and mentality is on the defensive side of the ball. That is what head coach Darvin Ham focuses on most and where they would have the opportunity to earn early rotation minutes.
“We have all the faith in the world in these two that they’re gonna fall right into place with what we got going on,” the Lakers coach said. “And as a young player, the harder you play, the harder you compete, particularly on the defensive end, usually those guys are the ones that get the minutes early.
“The offense will catch up to what they’re doing, but first they have to establish a competitive tone and obviously buy-in and know what we’re doing defensively and that’s gonna translate into everything else.”
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