2 days Ago By Jordan Samar, Hardwood Heroics
Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes received plaudits from teammate LeBron James during a recent episode of the “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash . James credited Hayes for seizing the Los Angeles Lakers ’ starting center spot since the Luka Doncic trade and the rescinded Mark Williams trade with the Charlotte Hornets . “I gotta give a big shoutout and credit to Jaxson Hayes .
Him stepping into that void, losing (Anthony Davis) – it’s a lot,” James stated. “I think Jaxson was like – ‘I can’t make up for that,’ and we didn’t ask him to make up for that. We needed Jaxson to be high energy, be a force on offense, and a lob threat.
Jaxson has been unbelievable in his minutes, and we’re gonna need that from him. We know how it unlocks Luka as well with the lob threat.” Hayes wasn’t supposed to be a starting center this year, but he got the job by default due to things beyond his control.
To his credit, the 24-year-old has been a dependable lob threat and rim protector for the Purple and Gold. A look at the Los Angeles Lakers’ frontcourt depth The Los Angeles Lakers listed Jaxson Hayes, Alex Len , Christian Koloko, and Trey Jemison III as their centers. Despite this, they have been winning more games than expected.
As of this writing, they’re the fourth seed in the Western Conference at 46-29. Hayes averages 7.0 points, 4.
7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists on 73.1 percent shooting from the field across 50 appearances this season.
The Los Angeles Lakers reduced Hayes’ minutes in the last two games because they had a lot of success with their small-ball lineups, with Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent logging more minutes than usual. This article first appeared on Hardwood Heroics and was syndicated with permission..
