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Avery Bradley Discussion

Discussion in 'Lakers Discussion' started by Kobe Bryant 8, Jul 8, 2019.

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Pioneer10 - Lakers All Star -

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Can he replace Westbrook in the starting lineup? I kidd I kidd maybe?

Pioneer10, Oct 20, 2021

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JSM said: ↑

Is he the Bozarro Laker?

Most guys historically come here and they forget how to shoot. Bradley seemingly forgot how to shoot when he leaves.

Surprised we saw him, honestly. Against guards who can touch us like the ones on the Warriors, he'll get time until THT comes back.
Click to expand...

I think that's exactly it. He seems to play better here and its refreshing to be honest given our bad luck with shooters.

ElginTheGreat, Oct 20, 2021

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Wouldn't get carried away over one game. It's good that he was ready to go when his number was called.

Slick2021, Oct 20, 2021

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JSM said: ↑

Is he the Bozarro Laker?

Most guys historically come here and they forget how to shoot. Bradley seemingly forgot how to shoot when he leaves.

Surprised we saw him, honestly. Against guards who can touch us like the ones on the Warriors, he'll get time until THT comes back.
Click to expand...

haven't you heard my theory that we just invert guys? bad shooters shoot better here, and good ones come here to die.

abeer3, Oct 20, 2021

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He needs a permanent spot on this roster and in this rotation.

He may even end up starting at some point...

LaVarBallsDad, Oct 20, 2021

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LaVarBallsDad said: ↑

He needs a permanent spot on this roster and in this rotation.

He may even end up starting at some point...
Click to expand...

I’d start him over Ellington who was our projected starting 2.

lakerjones, Oct 20, 2021

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Bringing Bradley in may hint to how bad Ellington and Monk are defensively.

CarolinaLakerFan, Oct 21, 2021

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ElginTheGreat, Oct 21, 2021

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He was solid and he might be a source of familiarity early on with all these injuries. Probably expect to see him get minutes with LeBron AD and Russ in closing situations...especially for his defense.

fabfourlakers, Oct 21, 2021

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So happy the Dubs decided to let him go. His defensive chops are much needed on our squad since losing Caruso and KCP

FrontOfJersey22, Oct 21, 2021

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Yeah I think I was dead wrong on this one. I don’t know why he struggled with GS and I guess Houston, but he showed opening night how badly we were lacking in guard defense. I’d keep him around, hell I might even start him and see if his shooting can maintain some decent average. I also thought he was like 35 or something, had no idea he was still only 30 about to be 31.

Weezy, Oct 21, 2021

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Yeah, he's one of the younger guys on the team. It's true that he seems to be playing better with us than with other teams, it's strange. Has good chemistry with AD and our playmakers tend to find him in the corner more often than not.

karacha, Oct 21, 2021

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Weezy said: ↑

Yeah I think I was dead wrong on this one. I don’t know why he struggled with GS and I guess Houston, but he showed opening night how badly we were lacking in guard defense. I’d keep him around, hell I might even start him and see if his shooting can maintain some decent average. I also thought he was like 35 or something, had no idea he was still only 30 about to be 31.
Click to expand...

Yup- he’s a youngster on our AARP Squad!

FrontOfJersey22, Oct 21, 2021

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Pioneer10 said: ↑

Can he replace Westbrook in the starting lineup? I kidd I kidd maybe?
Click to expand...

Well, there already is a bit of evidence to suggest that Russ may be much more effective running the second unit. I think we still need to give him a month or so to adjust, but he might be more comfortable running the show by himself while LeBron sits.

FrontOfJersey22, Oct 21, 2021

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karacha said: ↑

Yeah, he's one of the younger guys on the team. It's true that he seems to be playing better with us than with other teams, it's strange. Has good chemistry with AD and our playmakers tend to find him in the corner more often than not.
Click to expand...

His familiarity with LeBron and AD definitely showed with his short stint.

FrontOfJersey22, Oct 21, 2021

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The Athletic - Bill Oram

Avery Bradley opens up about missing Lakers title run: ‘I’m always going to put my family first’

The first thing to know is that Avery Bradley wanted to play in the bubble. Not in the beginning. Not when he feared going to Orlando meant he wouldn’t be able to protect his family from the coronavirus.

But eventually.

“Once you hear zero cases, zero cases, zero cases, you’re like, ‘OK, maybe this is something that I can do,” the Lakers guard said on Thursday, adding, “I was prepared mentally and physically.”

However, the NBA’s extensive planning to safely restart the 2019-20 NBA season at the height of the pandemic did not include an option for players who formally opted out of the resumption to change their minds and join their teams late at Disney World.

“If the NBA made a rule to where we could have come later, which I wish they did,” Bradley said, “I would have come once I felt comfortable enough seeing the bubble doing well.”

Back for a second stint with the Lakers after being claimed off waivers earlier this week, Bradley spoke to The Athletic about his journey back to the franchise after the painful decision to opt out of the bubble two seasons ago.

Through March 11, 2020, Bradley had started 44 games in the backcourt for the Lakers and had established himself as the team’s most important on-ball defender. Coach Frank Vogel deployed him to hound all of the best guards in the league: Damian Lillard, James Harden, Devin Booker.

Then COVID-19 arrived and the season stopped.

When the Lakers finally returned to the court in late July, Bradley followed along from the living room of his Austin, Texas, home.

“It was painful,” he said, “but I felt like I had to watch.”

He watched the top-seeded Lakers cruise through the preliminary games and then dispatch Portland, Houston and Denver before facing Miami in the Finals. When the Lakers won Game 6 to clinch the franchise’s 17th championship, Bradley said, the first call he received was from Lakers vice president Rob Pelinka.

“That made me feel so good, like I was part of the team,” Bradley said. “I know my teammates at that time might have been upset with me or thought that I gave up on them or whatever, but I think everyone knows my heart.”

But not everyone knew his full story.

Less than a year before the NBA and the rest of the world went into lockdown, Bradley was wrapping up his ninth season, enjoying a bit of a resurgence in Memphis after being traded by the Clippers in February.

Then, with 11 games remaining in the season, Bradley’s son, also named Avery but known in the family as Liam, developed a high fever. Bradley left the Grizzlies to return to Austin to be with his wife, Ashley, and their three kids.

Liam was treated for a 104-degree fever, but, Bradley said, Liam’s temperature did not go down once they returned home.

“None of the medication was working at the time,” Bradley said.

By the time they returned to a 24-hour clinic, Bradley said, his son had developed pneumonia. Fluid filled his lungs. The family spent nearly two weeks in the hospital trying to get the fever down.

Bradley missed the rest of that season with the Grizzlies, playing Hot Wheels with his son.

None of this was known publicly at the time. When Bradley opted out of the bubble, news reports said only that Bradley’s son had a history of respiratory illness. They said nothing about the weeks spent at Liam’s bedside, of the pain they felt watching their baby boy suffer, the fear that it could happen again.

The coronavirus targets the lungs and causes some people to contract pneumonia. For the Bradleys, that was terrifying.

“We just didn’t know anything about the virus,” Bradley said. “Of course, we were just as nervous as everyone else.”

With nowhere to go in the spring of 2020, Bradley rented an RV and drove his family — Ashley, their three kids, and his mother-in-law – from Los Angeles back to the safety of their Austin home.

Bradley drove for 25 hours straight, stopping only for gas. He pulled on disposable gloves before he touched the fuel pump.

As he drove toward the comforts of home, he didn’t yet know that he was essentially leaving his best chance at playing for a championship behind him.

“I don’t regret it at all,” Bradley said. “I do wish I could have been there with the guys and had a chance to win the championship, but it’s something that we prayed about at that time. I was like, I have to put it in God’s hands and let him make the decision or I’ll always live with regret.”

If members of the organization were upset with him for not making the same commitment as the other Lakers – to spend three months in the bubble, much of it away from their families – he said it hasn’t been expressed to him.

“It could have been tough for some guys,” he acknowledged.

Five other players remain from the championship season, but Bradley said he has not addressed with them his decision to opt out.

“If the opportunity presents itself I don’t mind talking to them about it,” he said, “because everyone has their own perspective on everything. I feel like anybody that understands what I was going through at the time, they would respect it.”

Anthony Davis said on Thursday that Bradley’s decision was “something that we respected.” Prior to Tuesday’s season-opening loss to Golden State, Vogel said, “He made a personal choice based on his family during a pandemic where there was a lot of fear, and a lot going on. So we’re welcoming him back with open arms.”

Bradley still has a hard time believing he is back with the Lakers after all that has happened over the last two years.

“I almost feel like this is just my destiny,” he said.

After the bubble, he signed with the Heat, but ended contracting up COVID-19 in the 10th game of the season and getting traded to Houston before he ever returned to Miami’s lineup. He played 17 games with the Rockets, but the team did not pick up his second-year option in July, making him a free agent once again.

“So it’s been a lot since I left here,” he said.

His preference would have been to re-sign with the Lakers in August, but he wanted a two-year contract. The Lakers couldn’t offer that. Instead, they filled out their roster with more offensive-minded guards, including Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk and Wayne Ellington, and Bradley eventually opted for a training camp deal with Golden State.

It was while playing for the Warriors in an exhibition game against the Lakers on Oct. 12 that Bradley received a video tribute from the Lakers.

Then on the final day of the preseason, the Warriors cut him.

The Lakers had planned on keeping one roster spot open for the start of the regular season, but by then injuries had took an early toll. Nunn, Ellington and Talen Horton-Tucker were all sidelined with injuries, as was 36-year-old forward Trevor Ariza, who was arguably the Lakers best defensive addition in the offseason.

Bradley had already booked a flight back to Miami after he was cut by the Warriors and before he learned he had been claimed by the Lakers. His original booking included a layover in Los Angeles.

“I kept that same flight, got off the plane,” Bradley said. “Like, c’mon man, can’t make that stuff up. Just like this is where I was supposed to be.”

It got even more serendipitous.

The Lakers played the Warriors in Tuesday’s season opener. Barely 24 hours after joining the team, Bradley checked in for the fourth quarter, a last-ditch effort from Vogel to try to stanch the Warriors offensive onslaught. Bradley immediately made an impact defensively on Stephen Curry and knocked down a pair of corner 3s before Golden State pulled away to win 121-114.

“On this entire spiritual journey that I’m on I just felt like it’s for me to remove my ego and be grateful for every situation that I’ve been put in,” Bradley said.

In the first game back at Staples Center with a sellout crowd, things looked mostly like they had the last time Bradley played here in a Lakers uniform, with the notable exception of the new banner celebrating the 2020 NBA champions.

Bradley, who has still never played in the NBA Finals, believes he contributed to the Lakers winning that title, even if he didn’t get to play for it.

“Yeah I felt like I was a part of it,” he said. “At the end of the day, we all battled to get that 1-seed to go into the bubble.”

Depending on what happens in his second tenure with the Lakers, his career in Los Angeles could be defined by his decision to sit out the bubble.

“I totally understand if somebody didn’t agree with it,” he said. “And that’s their perspective and their feeling and I respect that. But I’m always going to put my family first.”

Liam has been healthy throughout the pandemic, and routinely sees a specialist to make sure he stays healthy, Bradley said.

“We play this game for our family,” Bradley said. “Of course I love the game of basketball. That’s how I take care of my family is this game. It would be backwards if I didn’t focus on my family first.”
Click to expand...

JSM, Oct 22, 2021

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I like Bradley. I like a lot of our plethora of guards. I just wish they were a couple inches taller.

Panko, Oct 22, 2021

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I don't understand how someone could have judged him for making a decision based on his concerns for his family, regardless of whether, in retrospect, they were justified or not.

There is no way AB just forgot how to play basketball within a year, being 30 years old. He'll be fine.

ZenMaster, Oct 22, 2021

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Excellent article. Thanks for posting JSM. I am a fan of AB and as mentioned liked this signing a lot especially being down 4 wings as we were. But also I just like AB’s defensive mindset on the court. It’s something we’ve been sorely missing.

Personally I was never down on AB for opting out of the bubble to protect his family and I said so at the time. The one thing I didn’t like was him joining up with Kyrie saying the playoffs shouldn’t happen. I respect the decision for yourself but I didn’t like them applying that to the whole NBA. It rubbed me wrong especially as Kyrie was hurt and couldn’t play anyway! I couldn’t see why AB was having anything to do with Kyrie and I didn’t like it.

lakerjones, Oct 22, 2021

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I didn’t like this tweet from AB. Of course this was before GS cut him. I think we were a totally classy franchise in what could have been a messy situation for missing the bubble run and him saying that the games shouldn’t take place. I don’t have a problem with his decision but it easily could have gotten out that the team or a particular player wasn’t happy about that decision and it never did. We gave him a ring and Rob called him right after game 6. The tweet just has subtle undertone of disrespect for our franchise as far as I’m concerned.

Cookie, Oct 22, 2021

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