John Hefty-USA TODAY Sports
Los Angeles Lakers big man Christian Wood recently recalled teammate LeBron James beating him and being sweaty in the gym when the big man showed up around 7 a.m.
Wood was trying to impress on the first day of a mini-camp with the team’s players. He was on the court just hours before the Lakers were scheduled to play at San Diego State’s practice facility.
“I try to be one of the first people in the gym,” Wood told ESPN. “I thought it was about 7:07:20 in the morning.
“The first person I saw was LeBron James. He was sweating profusely.
“He’s already ahead of me.”
Wood is one of several players the Lakers are adding in the 2023 offseason. Los Angeles also added guard Gabe Vincent, big man Jackson Hayes and forwards Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince through free agency. The storied franchise signed Wood to a two-year, $5.7 million contract in September.
The 28-year-old big man is playing like one of the best backup big men in the NBA in a backup role with the Dallas Mavericks during the 2022-23 regular season. In 67 regular season games for Dallas (17 starts), he averaged 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, shooting 51.5% from the field and 37.6% from three-point range.
The Mavericks acquired Wood in a June 2022 trade that included Boban Marjanovic, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke, Marquese Chriss and the No. 26 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The draft pick (Wendell Moore) was sent to the Houston Rockets.
After the start of the new season, Wood will play for eight NBA teams since the beginning of his career – the Lakers, Rockets, Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans.
However, it wasn’t until his time with the Pistons during the 2019-20 regular season that he solidified his status as an NBA talent. Wood appeared in 62 games (12 starts) with Detroit, averaging 13.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game.
Recently, the aging James defeated the 28-year-old Wood in the gym, which shows how motivated he is to continue to compete at a high level in his 21st season in the NBA. The Lakers will play their final preseason game on October 19 against Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns.