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Max Christie has been the best player on the Los Angeles Lakers’ summer league roster, and he is looking ready for an expanded role with the main squad this season.
He received mostly only spot duty during the 2022-23 campaign, but he has done very well during the California Classic and NBA Summer League this month. Originally thought to be a 3-and-D wing, he has shown some ability to also handle the ball and create his own shot.
On Wednesday, the second-year player had an efficient 24 points, plus eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block in L.A.’s loss to the Boston Celtics. However, he also suffered a right hip strain, and his status for the rest of summer league play is in question.
Injury update from Vegas: Max Christie sustained a right hip strain in Wednesday’s game, and will be listed as “day to day” moving forward.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) July 13, 2023
Coincidentally, on Tuesday, he said he planned to play for the entire duration of the summer league as long as was able to.
Via OC Register:
“I’m not going to say I’m gonna say I’ll play the rest of them and I’m not going to say (Wednesday’s) my last game,” Christie told the Southern California News Group after Tuesday afternoon’s practice. “It could always change. I want to play as many games as possible, but a lot of the time it’s not necessarily up to me. If management decides they want to shut me down then we can do that. If not, I always want to keep playing.
“As long as my body’s holding up well and we’re winning games, why not? At the end of the day, I want to play.”
The summer Lakers will take the court again on Friday to play the Memphis Grizzlies.