Jarred Vanderbilt exploded onto the court Wednesday night, not just seeing his first minutes of the regular season for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Los Angeles Clippers, but sparking a wild 22-point swing in his team’s favor during his 21 minutes on the floor. That’s a debut, plain and simple.
From the Bench to Big Impact
It’s been a rough start for the Lakers’ backup bigs. Over the first four games of the regular season, head coach JJ Redick had Jarred Vanderbilt completely outside the rotation, opting for Sandro Mamukelashvili and Kevon Looney instead. But let’s be real, Looney was struggling, *big time*. His scoring and passing were nowhere near enough, actively stunting the offense. And defensively, his lack of size and declining mobility made him a serious liability. The problem was obvious.
So, Redick pulled the trigger. He gave Looney’s rotation spot to Vanderbilt against the Clippers. What a call. Vanderbilt, in his first official action of the season, absolutely delivered. His motor, incredible range, and pure quickness defensively gave the Clippers fits all night long. Redick even specifically pointed to Vanderbilt’s crucial ability to front the post against Brook Lopez as a game changer. The numbers don’t lie, a plus-22 during his time out there tells you everything you need to know about the shift.
Sexton Spills the Beans on Vanderbilt’s Mentality
The impact wasn’t lost on former teammate Collin Sexton, who played alongside Vanderbilt for half a season with the Utah Jazz back in 2022-23. After the Lakers’ victory, Sexton wasn’t shy about praising Vanderbilt’s even-keeled mentality, especially how he handled riding the bench early on, and how that approach uplifts the entire squad.
Sexton told reporters, “Vando is somebody that is always going to stay ready… You never see any bad days for Vando. He’s always going to be a leader. He’s always going to come in and be that vet and be that good person whether he plays no minutes or he plays 48 minutes. He’s always going to be the same person and I feel like that’s one of the things that helps in the locker room is we’re all for the team and tonight, he was definitely for the team. He came in and he brought that juice right away and I feel like he was a huge, huge impact in us winning.” That’s the kind of locker room presence every team needs.
What’s Next for Vanderbilt and the Lakers
Given Vanderbilt’s lights-out 2026-27 debut and Looney’s earlier struggles, it’s a no-brainer: Vanderbilt is going to keep getting those rotation minutes. He proved he deserves to be out there, no question. His next chance to show out comes Friday. The Lakers are on the road, kicking off their NBA Cup Group Play against the Golden State Warriors at 7 p.m. This is where the rubber meets the road, and you know Vanderbilt is going to bring that fire again.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Silver Screen and Roll.
Leave a Reply