One’s loss is another’s opportunity when it comes to the NBA, and that will be the case for Kendall Marshall, the Los Angeles Lakers’ soon-to-be newest acquisition at point guard.
With the unexpected injury to Kobe Bryant, the team now stands without a point guard. Steve Nash has been out for much of the season and will miss at least another month, Steve Blake is out with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, and Jordan Farmar won’t be back for at least another week due to a hamstring injury. This forced the team to look at other options, and Marshall was their answer. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports has details:
Desperate to replenish their guard depth, the Los Angeles Lakers have agreed to a deal with former NBA lottery pick Kendall Marshall, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Marshall, the 13th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft, was averaging 19.7 points and 9.6 assists per game for the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Development League.
Scoring was an issue for the 13th overall pick in last year’s draft, so it’s impressive to hear that he had been averaging nearly 20 points – even if it’s in the D-League. He has always been a great passer, so if he can pick up on Mike D’Antoni’s schemes, this opportunity could truly breathe new life into his NBA career. Often times, it’s about situations and a chance to play, and that is exactly what Marshall is getting with the Lakers.
After signing with the team, the grateful guard had this to say:
humbled and blessed.
— Kendall Marshall (@KButter5) December 20, 2013
wanna give a HUGE thanks to the @Sevens and Coach Baker for the opportunity to play and continue to grow.
— Kendall Marshall (@KButter5) December 20, 2013
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James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
He may be with the Lakers for most of the season. Kobe isn’t coming back after 6 weeks.
More like 8-9 weeks if he doesn’t decide to take off the rest of the season as Charles Barkley recommended. Will be interesting to see if there are still stupid fans who vote for Kobe for the All Star game.
Many of us were warning that Kobe shouldn’t return so early from the Achilles surgery, but fans and people in the media kept saying how remarkable Kobe was. There is now good reason to believe that this injury would not have happened if Kobe was better conditioned after taking it slower to return from surgery (and if he was younger).