After going through his first practice with the Lakers on Monday, veteran point guard Spencer Dinwiddie explained why he chose Los Angeles over the Mavericks when he became a free agent last week, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“The two situations kind of felt like this: Let’s say you were a kid and you got your ass whupped by the bully,” Dinwiddie said. “Dallas would’ve been like your momma being like, ‘It’s OK, baby. Don’t worry about it.’ Lakers are like your dad: ‘Nah, you better go out there and fight ’til you win.’ You feel me? And I just felt like that was what I needed at the time. I’m a big believer in kind of doing what you need to do at whatever time it is.”
As McMenamin notes, Dinwiddie played for the Mavericks and head coach Jason Kidd from 2022-23, but has never played for his hometown Lakers or Darvin Ham, so that represented the more challenging, less familiar route for the 30-year-old. Dinwiddie added that Rob Pelinka was the first team executive to call him after he was waived by Toronto, which made a strong impression.
The veteran guard will be reuniting with a few former teammates in L.A., including D’Angelo Russell, Taurean Prince, Rui Hachimura, and Christian Wood. However, as McMenamin writes, Dinwiddie made it clear that none of those players were the most influential voice in his ear as he made the decision to join the Lakers.
“How the hell we going to give C-Wood the credit? Bro, what are we doing?” Dinwiddie said with a laugh. “Look, C-Wood was impactful. … (But) I’m giving the credit to Bron (LeBron James).”
Here’s more on Dinwiddie and the Lakers:
- While Dinwiddie will slot in behind Russell and Austin Reaves‘ on the Lakers’ backcourt depth chart, Ham said he can envision using all three guards in certain lineups, perhaps even to close games, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. “All three of those guys can play together,” Ham said. “His size, he can guard bigger wings. So if we have to finish the game with those three, he’s definitely more than capable of doing that. We will look at some lineups with the three of those guys, along with Bron and AD. But I think he complements them well. He can defend, he can pass, he can dribble, he can shoot.”
- Like he did in his previous contract, Dinwiddie negotiated a $1 incentive in his new deal that he’ll earn if the Lakers win the championship, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. His base salary will increase from $1,554,654 to $1,554,655 in that scenario. Dinwiddie told reporters that the $1 championship incentive has become something of inside joke between him and agent Jason Glushon (Twitter video link via McMenamin).
- Cam Reddish (right ankle sprain), Max Christie (right ankle sprain), Jarred Vanderbilt (right mid-foot sprain), and Gabe Vincent (left knee surgery recovery) will all be reevaluated after the All-Star break, the Lakers said on Monday (Twitter link via Khobi Price of the Southern California News Group). Some of those players are closer to returning than others, with Vanderbilt’s status for the rest of the season notably still up in the air.
I’m here for the Lakers slander
I think it’s weird for a dude to go through one practice with the tenth place team and talk about culture, im not sayin he’s right or wrong, just seems like an odd statement, dude probably told girls he loved them on the first date
9th place… to be fair he is playing for the Lakers with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. A far cry from his days with Washington, Brooklyn, and Dallas… there’s a reason all those Larry O’Brien trophies are on display at the the practice facility
Always liked Dinwiddie……. wish him the best. He can definitely help Lakers.
Lakers wanted to win the championship this year
But they are play in team for now.
Can the Lakers defeat Mavs and Kings, then make the playoffs?
If not, why not make a good trade at TD?
If making playoffs
Which team is able to sweep the Lakers this year,s playoffs?
Nuggets
Wolves
Clippers
what the hell does any of what he said even mean? makes zero sense. just say you wanted to play at home and with lebron and call it a good.
personally, I think he’d go farther in Dallas, especially after seeing what gafford and PJ have done for the Mavs already.
He’s saying he wanted to challenge himself.
You’re welcome.
He’s from LA lol …. relax
Lakers have a better chance to win championships than Mavs
What he means?
No, they don’t.
Some odd quotes but at least it’s interesting.
Curious who the “bully” is in this analogy. The Nets? Ben Simmons? Christian Wood?
Not positive, but pretty sure he’s talking about Yogi Farrell.
Think about it: Nets would rather have Dennis Schröder than a very-familiar-to-the-franchise Spencer Dinwiddie. Lakers hurting at perimeter defense. Schröder played on Lakers just last year. Pelinka coulda used the money spent on DUD free-agents Christian Wood and Gabe Vincent to (at least) keep Schröder and maybe Lonnie Walker IV (now with Nets…..hmm…..Nets would rather have Walker’s scoring than Dinwiddie’s). Hence, Lakers trudge along in their DUD Era with Pelinka and Brawny Sensation running the (continually underachieving) show.
…Because the nets are the team in this instance who has a history of winning?
After signing Spencer Dinwiddie and D-lo playing the way he is the Laker ceiling is the finals, they could even win it. Shannon Sharpe ESPN. Perk ‘LBJ is the greatest to ever touch a basketball’ LMFAO. Just another day that ends in Y, it never ends.
The west is wide open, there are probably 7 teams whose ceiling is the finals.
Why is a savant like you listening to “Perk” in the first place?
Comical value and to add another to the long list of so called expert yes men to laugh at later. How do you escape the pro laker media? You can’t, you can’t only laugh.
You can start by turning off ESPN, your on your own from there
While written media is mostly awful, one can find some good, objective articles about hoops with a bit of effort. This website is a good example of that.
Any, and I do mean any, nationally televised show where they “talk basketball” is an absolute joke. I have watched any of those schills in years. It’s about getting dummies to watch, not spreading knowledge,
Except the Mavs will finish in a better playoff spot. Dinwiddie went there because they have less depth.