How Goran Dragic could help the Los Angeles Lakers: Toughness
Some skills in the NBA are not tangible. There are traits you simply can’t teach no matter how many shots you get up or how much weight you lift.
You either have it or you don’t.
When it comes to physical and mental toughness, Goran Dragic has it in spades.
Throughout his career, Goran Dragic has been cheapshot quite often, whether it be a player swinging through and making contact with their elbows which has led to slicing Dragic open, knocking out his teeth, giving him a black eye and split his lip. Not to mention the number of late fouls where he has been tackled mid-air causing him to fall to the floor and writhe in pain.
Each of these times, Dragic could quit, he could have simply lost his nerve and allowed for the players to get underneath his skin but Dragic is built differently. Using each of the minor injuries as fuel to the fire, Dragic would smile through it all and keep playing.
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Dragic had his tooth knocked out of his mouth during a game, he didn’t crumble to the floor like someone like Paul Pierce would have, he passed the ball to his open teammate, picked up his tooth, threw it to the medical staff on the bench and demanded the ball back to make a play.
Another instance, he chipped his tooth, another instance his eye was swollen shut and he demanded to play until doctors told him he couldn’t see out of that eye, going so far as to make a Rocky reference in the post-game interview saying “Cut me Mick” while smiling with what looked like a broken orbital bone.
The Lakers have some tough guys on their roster. Markieff Morris, JaVale McGee, Avery Bradley, and Jared Dudley can all handle themselves on the court. It can never hurt to add a talented player like Goran Dragic who is not going to back down from a challenge and who is going to get in someone’s face and do whatever is needed to win.
Add to his toughness, his solid ability to rebound, his passing ability, and his scoring ability and the Lakers would be silly not to pursue Dragic if he can be gotten at their price range.
The Lakers don’t have many weaknesses but landing Dragic would remove one weakness for them right away.