When the Los Angeles Lakers signed big man Christian Wood several weeks ago, many were intrigued by his versatile scoring skill set. But some were skeptical he would work out, given the narrative that has dogged him over the last few years.
While with the Dallas Mavericks last season and the Houston Rockets the two previous seasons, he had been branded as a horrible defender who had an inflated sense of self-worth when it came to his ability to score.
But one thing that perhaps led to him joining the Lakers was his pre-existing relationship with head coach Darvin Ham. Ham dismissed the derogatory things others have said about Wood and said it hasn’t colored his opinion of the 28-year-old.
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“I don’t know what happened in Dallas and that’s not my business,” Ham said. “I don’t know. People say (expletive). ‘He’s lazy. He doesn’t play any defense.’ I know the kid. I know what he’s going to do for me, and he’s done everything that I expected him to do up to this point since camp has been going on.
“And so, I don’t judge my relationship based off other people’s opinion of certain individuals. I deal with you directly and I have my own relationship with him and I know what he’s capable of and what he’ll do for me.”
The two first connected during a basketball camp in the summer of 2015, right after Wood went undrafted out of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“I’m looking at this kid. He looks kind of lanky and loose, but just getting stuff done on the court on both sides of the ball,” Ham said.
Wood said: “That’s how we first connected. He was a fan of mine. He said I had a lot of games ahead and to stay patient. ‘Let the game come to you.’ It was a while ago, but it’s funny how things work.”
Wood played 13 games for the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2018-19 season. Back then, Ham was an assistant coach there, and he strengthened his relationship with the big man.
After a slow start to the exhibition season, Wood has come on in the Lakers’ last two games. He had 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting on Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings and 5-of-8 to score another 13 points on Friday versus the Golden State Warriors. He has also helped on the boards by grabbing a combined 11 rebounds in 33 minutes during the two contests.