AWESOME article written by Jordan himself at The Players Tribune about his rookie year. http://www.theplayerstribune.com/jordan-clarkson-lakers-rookie-year/ Here's a little excerpt.
Reading that makes you realize how important it is to have good character vets on the team, like Boozer, Nash, Lin, and even Sacre. It's not all about talent and fit on the court. Especially when you have so many young players that need to mature as adults as well. I'm so glad we picked up Bass and Hibbert this year. And I'd like to keep Sacre.
Very cool read! JC is a soft spoken guy but definitely shows alot of humility when you hear him speak. But I agree i think it is always good to have veteran glue guys who know the in's and out's of the nba. As much as it was a year of SUCK last year you could see that they all got along very well.
i JUST read this...my buddy sent it...what a great piece..and yes, JC, light it the hell up on christmas!
Well written and thoughtful... Shed light on what good characters and caring environment the squad had even in an otherwise forgettable season. Thanks for the post.
yeah, I thought the stuff about the atmosphere being positive despite such a rough season was really good to hear.
Man what a great read, I love this kid. My favorite bit was the stuff about how much he advanced in his rookie year, in the sense of what he was being asked to do. Loved all this. He's right, he went from not playing at all, to the D-League, to starting for the team, being asked to run the offense out there. This all while being on an awful team trying to still look respectable, a rookie taken 46th asked to go out and carry out first unit most nights, on the Lakers, one of the most scrutinized teams in the NBA, whether we're good or bad. Yeah, plenty of rookies are put in similar positions, but they don't always succeed, or constantly improve, or take on the challenge well, or stay so professional. Last season was a rough one, and this kid had to be one of the faces of it, but he never went out to tank even if we wanted that. He had a really bad game against a Clippers defense that focused on him and surprised him, came out next game against them and made up for it immediately, he learned that quickly. And yeah, went from 46th pick, not playing, to leading the team with pride and heart by the end even through the losing, making the rookie first-team. Can't wait to see where he goes from here.
