The Lakers were dealt a huge blow with Jared Dudley taking an assistant coaching job with the Dallas Mavericks. It was a shocking move, but it seemed to make sense that a veteran player near the end of his playing days preferred to take a good opportunity that would advance his career.
You can understand the shock, then, when reports came out that Dudley did in fact wish to remain a Laker this season.
In a bombshell interview with The LA Times' Bill Plaschke, Jared Dudley revealed all of the answers to the questions that fans have been wondering about the past few days.
“I thought I was coming back to the Lakers,” said Dudley, in a phone interview. “This is crazy.”
According to Dudley, he fully expected to return to Los Angeles next season, largely because of the endorsements he was getting by the team's three biggest stars. They know how valuable he can be for a team, and they were apparently letting the front office know it.
With LeBron, Davis, and Westbrook all singing the forward's praises, how then did he end up without a spot on this team? It all came down to the front office prioritizing youth after already bringing in a number of veteran players.
With a roster that is already considerably older than last year, the decision-makers just felt that they couldn't afford to use any more bench spots on a player who didn't bring much on-court value.
The team was successful in bringing in more talent, but losing Dudley means losing a certain edge and leadership that only he can bring. He's the type of player that will do anything for his team, and that's not easy to replace.
Even so, Dudley doesn't hold any ill will towards a team that brought him a ring.
“No one owed me anything, Rob and Kurt were honest and upfront, nothing but respect and gratitude to them and Jeanie [Buss], I will be forever thankful for the opportunity they gave me,” Dudley said. “But I did want to come back. I did think I could help the team, especially having so many new players, but I understand they wanted to get younger.”
Only time will tell how this Lakers team will fare without their glue guy, but it will be a storyline to keep an eye on for sure.
Up next: Dwight Howard Reacts to His Latest Lakers Reunion
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