Ranking 24 worst Lakers starters of the Kobe Bryant era
By Tyler Watts
8. Kendall Marshall
The Suns drafted Marshall with the 13th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and believed in the 6’4 point guard’s potential. He was an elite playmaker during his two seasons at UNC but was the third-string point guard in Phoenix behind Goran Dragic and Sebastian Telfair. The rookie played 48 games, but was inconsistent and struggled to hit his shots.
The Suns traded him to Washington in the 2013 offseason. Shannon Brown, Marcin Gortat, and Malcolm Lee were joining him as Emeka Okafor and a 2014 first-round pick headed back to Phoenix. The Wizards waived Marshall three days later, and he missed the early part of the 2013-14 season before signing with the Lakers in December.
Los Angeles was decimated by injuries. Kobe Bryant only played six games and would not return to the floor. Steve Nash and Steve Blake were both injured. The Lakers needed someone to play minutes in the backcourt. Marshall signed and immediately played well, but the production quickly declined. His numbers look strong over the full 54 games, but the Lakers waived him in the 2014 offseason.
Kendall Marshall played two more years in the NBA, but never more than 30 games or 13.3 minutes. He was just not an NBA point guard, despite making 45 starts for the Los Angeles Lakers.