At the beginning of the season, well the beginning of Mike D’Antoni’s tenure as Lakers coach, Antawn Jamison wasn’t exactly getting a lot of playing time. After getting six consecutive DNP-CDs from December 16 through January 4, Jamison has reclaimed his position in the rotation and has become one of the top contributors off the Lakers bench.
—- Know more about Antawn Jamison’s career in this player profile! —-
According to Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times, Jamison is also much happier with his relationship with D’Antoni these days than earlier in the year.
“I’m just finally getting comfortable. We have some chemistry going on,” said Jamison. “I know the amount of minutes that I’m going to be out there. I know what [Coach Mike D’Antoni] wants from me exactly, so I’m pretty much able to just play my game.”
One of the questions surrounding D’Antoni and the Lakers this season has been the bizarre and often inconsistent rotations, which is also something that was an issue last season with Mike Brown. Jamsion found out the hard way what it was like to be on the outside looking in on one of D’Antoni’s rotations, but persevered and has turned into one of the more successful players off the pine for the Lakers.
Pincus also shared Jamison’s stats in the last seven games, in which he has averaged 15.9 points while shooting 51.9 percent from the field. And as we all know, the Lakers are 5-2 in that stretch.
While the Lakers are still fighting for the eighth playoff spot, there’s no question Jamison’s contributions will be needed, especially with Pau Gasol still sidelined due to injury.
