After things fell apart with the Dallas Mavericks, the narrative around versatile big man Christian Wood was that he wasn’t a good teammate and was difficult to coach, which led to him being unsigned for most of the summer after becoming a free agent.
Fortunately for Wood, an opportunity presented itself in the form of his hometown Los Angeles Lakers, with head coach Darvin Ham and general manager Rob Pelinka determined to get the veteran big man to sign on the dotted line before the start of the season.
Even though it looked at one point that Wood would not be coming to Los Angeles, the 28-year-old eventually signed with the Lakers, making their roster arguably one of the deepest in the NBA this year.
With the NBA offseason being rough for Wood, with his name seemingly getting dragged through the mud for most of the summer, he opened up about everything that had been said about him during the Lakers’ Media Day on Monday, via ClutchPoints.
"I think there's a lot of false narrative out there that was about me… I've never had any problems with any team… This will probably be one of my most motivated seasons."
Lakers big man Christian Wood speaks on the rumors about his character 👀pic.twitter.com/pejoWlK5tD
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 3, 2023
Fortunately for the Lakers, they may have brought in Wood at just the right time as he seems more motivated than ever; he said earlier in the day that he hasn’t been this motivated coming into a season since he went undrafted.
That said, along with the fact that Ham promised him a big role on the team this season, Wood could be a player to watch in Los Angeles as he’ll be looking to make a statement from start to finish while also helping this team try to win another championship.
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