Los Angeles Lakers forward Jared Dudley has some opinions on how the Brooklyn Nets' offseason additions of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant will change the culture of the team. Dudley played just one season for the Nets (2018-19) where the small forward averaged 4.9 points and 2.6 points in 20.7 minutes per game for the team.
During an interview that Dudley did with Stefan Bondy on the New York Daily News, Dudley let his opinion be known.
“It definitely changed culture-wise, for sure. Because any time you bring a Durant and Kyrie, they bring their trainers, they bring their stuff, they bring their personalities, so it definitely changes. But they knew Durant wasn’t going to play this year. So development is still crucial. Can Caris (LeVert) get back to All Star form? Can Rodions (Kurucs) take a step where if you get him to play above his contract now you have that. And then eventually what’s going to happen, when KD comes back, (it becomes) who works with KD and Kyrie?”
“It’s hard to maintain that type of culture. The reason I say that — culture is relative for how you want it. You can’t win a championship if you don’t have the best players. So no matter what culture you have, if you bring that same team back you’re only going so far with your talent. Adding them two you ingrain them. So adding them two, you’re going to keep the same medical staff, they’re still testing every Monday. They still have player development. Now that being said, the better player you are, the higher you are, you get perks. So maybe you don’t have to do it as much. So Kevin Durant can go to L.A. and do his thing. We understand it’s a business.”
Dudley enjoyed a 13-year NBA career mainly as a role player off the bench. The 6-foot-6 veteran is playing a minimal role for the Lakers this season. Dudley is playing a career-low 7.8 minutes per game for Los Angeles where he is scoring just 1.5 minutes per game.
Dudley signed with the Lakers during the offseason to round out the team's cast of veterans as they prepare for a serious playoff push. The 6-foot-7 forward showed off his enforcer duties once in a while, including coming to the aid of center Dwight Howard at one point. And at 34-years-old, he is also in the position to dish out sagely thoughts on teams, especially if it's one he played for just recently.
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