Lakers Training Camp Day One: Hype and Shade

Lakers
LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Darvin Ham, and Russell Westbrook pose during the media day for the 2022-23 Lakers season. Image credit: Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images

After all the noise throughout the offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers finally get to focus on basketball – at least for a while.

Training camp opened on Tuesday for the Lakers, signifying the first official team practice under rookie head coach Darvin Ham. Even with the awkwardness of the Russell Westbrook situation still looming, most of the vibes from day one of training camp seemed positive.

Much of the info coming out of the day seemed to be centered around Ham’s coaching. Westbrook talked about how nice it was to have a “new coach’s energy” (shade, anyone?) while Juan Toscano-Anderson gave some insight into Ham’s coaching methods for his first day with the full squad:

Ham also laid out some of his ideals in practice, from setting a clock to be as efficient as possible in practice to putting down blue tape around the courts to show players what the spacing principles should be, a tactic borrowed from his time as an assistant in Milwaukee.

While there’s been some talk about Westbrook potentially playing a role off the bench, Ham did leave the door wide open for the former MVP, saying that he still “absolutely” envisions him as a starter if he performs to the level they expect.

Elsewhere, Kendrick Nunn fully participated in practice after missing the entirety of last season with a bone bruise. The point guard spoke to the media about how he was feeling coming back from the long absence:

Toscano-Anderson and Lonnie Walker were limited participants with injuries. Dennis Schröder is still sorting out Visa issues after spending the summer with the German national team and is therefore not yet in LA.

And finally, enjoy a shooting competition between LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russ:

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