Playing in his third season in the NBA, Los Angeles Lakers power forward Larry Nance Jr. is showing steady improvement in his play on both ends of the floor. This season, he is averaging 9.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, which are better, though not by much, compared to his rookie numbers of 5.5 points and 5.0 rebounds back in the 2015-16 campaign. Having said that, Nance is still just 24, so there’s definitely a big room left for the second-generation NBA player. The best is yet to come for Nance.
According to Lakers head coach Luke Walton, Nance could be a more effective player by being a little bit more aggressive on the floor, particularly on offense. In his own words, Walton wants Nance to be a “reckless”, per Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.
Luke Walton said he wants to see Larry Nance be more “reckless.” How often do you hear that? But he wants Nance and “let loose a little more” on offense.
— Bill Oram (@billoram) December 9, 2017
Thus far in his NBA career, Nance has mostly played the role of a blue-collar player, who’ll crash the boards play stingy defense at the post, and serve as among the team’s primary rim protector. On offense, however, it seems that Nance isn’t getting plenty of opportunities. He’s taking just 5.4 shots per game since entering the league in 2015. To underscore how marginal Nance’s participation on offense is, his usage percentage is just 10th on the team.
There are many mouths to feed in Los Angeles with the likes of Lonzo Ball, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brandon Ingram, and Brook Lopez all demanding the ball, but hopefully for the Lakers, Nance would be able to incorporate Walton’s advice into his game, while remaining as one of the most efficient players in Los Angeles.
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