Lakers Big Man Has Stellar Debut End in Troublesome Injury

Newly-acquired Lakers player Damian Jones had his debut with the team. He played in Sunday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors. Jones finished the night with eight points, three rebounds, and two blocks in eight minutes on the basketball court. However, the Lakers player had to leave the game due to an injury.

Lakers fans won’t really like the latest update. The team said Jones will be day-to-day with a back strain. He had to leave the game against the Golden State due to back issues. His injury is not that serious, but we may have a reason to be worried. Jones is on a 10-day contract with the team, and this injury makes things difficult for him.

Lakers star to stick with the team despite his injury

Jones has a limited time to show his great skills. He had an excellent start with the team, giving them great rim protection and an excellent offensive boost.

“Of course there’s pressure,” he told reporters. “But you got to live up to the moment, try to perform your best, know what you can do and go out and perform.

“I’m trying to get accustomed to the system,” Jones added. “I’ve been watching a lot of film of how I’m supposed to play and it felt really good to see that come out to really help out.”

The Phoenix Suns waived Jones last week, and LA didn’t waste any time. General Manager Rob Pelinka signed Jones in order to fill up the roster spot Quinn Cook left behind.

Jones played 118 games with 49 starts, spending time with the Golden State, Atlanta, and Phoenix, averaging 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13.3 minutes while shooting 65.7%. Jones was averaging 5.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game with Atlanta last season. In 14 games with the Suns, Jones was averaging 1.6 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

Jones is ready to win

The talented player is used to winning championships. He looks forward to winning one with the Lakers.

“It’s great just being in this atmosphere,” Jones said. “It pushes the most out of you. You try to perform your best every night because everyone’s gunning for you. Everybody knows you’re in contention to go to the Finals, so just that pressure alone brings the best out of you. It’s great to compete.”

Markieff Morris has great words for Jones and even gave him some tips.

“I’ve been talking to him since he’s been here,” Morris said. “I’ve been telling him there’s going to be some ups and downs, but he has to be able to do his job at a high level. We pretty much have everything else but a big-time shot blocker and kind of a lob guy, so I’m telling him, to stay with this team, to make an impact on this, we need to hear you on the court defensively, we need you to jump at everything at the rim and we need you to catch lobs, because that’s pretty much all we don’t have.”

Kyle Kuzma shares the same opinion.

Will the Lakers keep Jones on the roster in the near future?