The Lakers are in a rut. For the first time in the Buss era (1980-present) the purple and gold will miss the playoffs for consecutive seasons. The last time the Lakers missed back-to-back postseasons was way back in the 1950s, before the team moved from Minneapolis.
While the season has been a disaster, the Lakers are poised to finish with the worst record in team history, there has been one shining light: Jordan Clarkson. The first year guard out of Missouri is giving fans hope for a much brighter future.
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Unfortunately for Clarkson, the Lakers are currently in the heat of the lottery race. With the Lakers needing to finish in the Top 5 in lottery order to keep their pick, every Laker fan is hoping for more L’s than W’s on the schedule. The obsession over “tanking” as people like to call it has taken away from the accomplishments that Clarkson has achieved.
During the past five game road trip that ended last week, Clarkson literally won two of the five games for the Lakers – 2 clutch free throws against Minnesota and a last second layup in overtime against Philadelphia. Instead of praising the rookie for his stellar play, the wins were met with backlash by the fans.
Uhhh, damnit Clarkson, THINK ABOUT YOU'RE FUTURE #Lakers #LALvsPHI
— Mark Fishman (@TheFishKnowsIt) March 31, 2015
Jordan Clarkson does not care about the pick. Lol @LakersNation
— yayajosh (@joshnojoshin) March 31, 2015
This is the reaction a rookie player gets after winning two games for his team? Instead of praising what a second round pick is accomplishing, arguably better than 44 of the 45 players picked ahead of him have done, Lakers fans are upset at him?
Nobody mentioned the fact that Clarkson was in the midst of one of the greatest stretches by a Lakers rookie ever. During the road trip, Clarkson averaged an astounding 21.6 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds on 50 percent shooting. Those numbers helped him win Rookie of The Month, the first time a Lakers rookie had won the award.
Skeptics will quickly point out that Clarkson gets plenty of playing time on a terrible team and has free reign to do as he pleases. Yes, that might be true but look at these numbers:
Player A: 15.3 points, 5 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 3.3 turnovers, 39 percent FG, 27 percent 3-point
Player B: 15.8 points, 5.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 2.2 turnovers, 48.7 percent FG, 30 percent 3-point
Who’s player A you’re wondering? That’s Russell Westbrook during his rookie season.
Player B? That’s Jordan Clarkson since the All-Star break, or basically since Byron Scott decided to start playing the rookie.
Blue Man Hoop
Both Westbrook and Clarkson played for terrible teams during their rookie season. The one difference, Westbrook got to play with Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka, while Clarkson is playing with Robert Sacre and Wesley Johnson.
The most important aspect to take from those numbers are how well Clarkson is shooting the ball and his outstanding 2.5-1 assist to turnover ratio. I’m not saying that Clarkson will become the superstar that Westbrook is. I’m simply pointing out that instead of worrying about keeping a Top-5 pick, which we will, fans should be more excited about the potential that Clarkson is showing.
The Lakers haven’t had a rookie play this outstanding, since well, the 1980s when they drafted both Magic Johnson and James Worthy with the number one pick in their respective drafts. Even Kobe Bryant struggled mightily during his rookie season, failing to consistently break the rotation, proving how hard it is to come into the NBA and contribute immediately like Clarkson has.
Only time will tell how good the rookie will become, but for now, despite the recent struggles of the franchise, the future looks bright for both Clarkson and the Lakers.