For Spencer Dinwiddie, the presence of LeBron James is a more effective recruiting tool for the Los Angeles Lakers than Christian Wood's well-intentioned recruiting pitches.
Dinwiddie was bought out by the Toronto Raptors after the trade deadline, attended the Lakers' win with Rob Pelinka on Friday, then signed after clearing waivers on Saturday. At practice on Monday, Dinwiddie — who will make his Lakers debut on Tuesday — provided myriad reasons why he chose the Lakers over the Dallas Mavericks, who aggressively pursued him on the buyout market.
For one thing, Dinwiddie hails from Woodland Hills and a family of Lakers fans. Maybe he thinks the Mavs are a tad soft. Another: the Lakers — particularly LeBron and Anthony Davis — have an impressive track record in high-stakes situations, such as the 2020 and 2023 playoffs and the In-Season Tournament.
“Essentially, it’s a team that, when everything’s on the line, they can rise to a level that no other team can get to.” Dinwiddie explained. “They won the In-Season Tournament, have played big-time basketball the past several years. Obviously, sometimes it’s hard to maintain that throughout a whole season. But at the end of the day, they know how to win. That’s what you know. Every night they’re gonna get somebody’s best shot just because of the names on the front of the uniform. Then, obviously, you have arguably the greatest player of all time on the court, so a lot of people are going to give him personally their best shot as well.”
Dinwiddie said Pelinka called him to express interest before anybody else, which left an impression. He also felt welcomed by ex-teammates D'Angelo Russell, Taurean Prince, Rui Hachimura, and Wood — with whom he played in Dallas. The newest Lakers guard said he appreciated Wood's outreach, but stopped short of giving him too much credit.
“Hey, look, C-Wood was impactful, but I’m giving the credit to Bron.”
Spencer Dinwiddie on whether Christian Wood should get credit for recruiting him to the Lakers: “How the hell are we going to give C-Wood the credit? Bro, what are we doing? Hey, look, C-Wood was impactful, but I’m giving the credit to Bron.” pic.twitter.com/ekdX0k7LBm
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) February 12, 2024
Dinwiddie posted the best outside shooting results of his career while matched with Luka Doncic in Dallas. The Lakers hope he'll enjoy a similar dose of open looks playing alongside LeBron and AD.
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