The Los Angeles Lakers witnessed a massive return to play performance from Jarred Vanderbilt this weekend.
Jarred Vanderbilt, who has been out since Feb. 1 after a grinding recovery from surgeries in both of his feet, made a spectacular season debut for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Golden State Warriors.
The 26-year-old was highly productive in his on-court comeback. Across 12 minutes, he finished with two points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field while grabbing four rebounds, three steals, and two assists to contribute to L.A.’s 118-108 statement victory.
This performance drew a massive applause amongst Lakers fans and even from a renowned team reporter.
Vanderbilt’s well-rounded impact on the Lakers has been highly significant. From the energy, aggressiveness, and defense, the impact of the defensive wing was truly off the charts.
As such, the biggest contribution that Vanderbilt certainly offered for their Saturday dub has been his defense on Stephen Curry. He helped the team in restricting the superstar guard to 13 points on 4-for-17 shooting.
The Warriors guard went scoreless in the second half, and that can be attributed to Vanderbilt’s defensive pressure.
LeBron James is simply happy and amused for how their ace perimeter defender played superbly after nearly a year of inactivity.
“It looked like he didn’t miss a beat. He’s flying around. What he does don’t even always show up in the box score,” James said of Vanderbilt.
“But to come back in his first game and to have three steals, have the playmaking and assists, caught the ball in the pocket, an offensive rebound tip-in. We missed him.
“So I was happy to have him back.”
The Lakers couldn’t ask for a much better debut from Vanderbilt. After missing the second half of 2023-24 and the first 42 games of this season, the All-Defensive forward showed that he’s back like he never left.
With Vanderbilt back in their lineup, the Lakers are fully ecstatic of their chances to continue their strong approach for the rest of the year.
“Vando was awesome, did all the things that we need him to do. I have a strong sense that he’s been sandbagging over the last three weeks just in terms of his intensity level,” head coach J.J. Redick said.
“We have not seen that in the gym, and it looked like the Vando that we know.”
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