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Dave McMenamin, ESPN Staff Writer
Cam Reddish was coming off a stretch in which a groin injury that had plagued him earlier in his career forced him to sit out four of five games and rendered him scoreless in 20 minutes in the one he was able to play.
So it would have been understandable if the fifth-year forward’s confidence was shaken ever so slightly going into the Los Angeles Lakers‘ game against the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Maybe during other stops in the 2019 No. 10 pick out of Duke‘s career — cycling through the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers in his first four years — it would have been.
But that’s not the Reddish who has showed up in L.A. so far this season.
He returned to the starting lineup against Houston and continued to produce, scoring 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting with five rebounds and a block in a 107-97 Lakers win.
“Cam is great,” LeBron James said after the game. “He has a knack for just being around the ball, getting deflections. I guarantee in the minutes that he’s played, he’s probably one of the league leaders in deflections, steals. Anything around the ball, he’s just really good.”
And the appreciation didn’t end there.
When Reddish left the locker room, he made his way to the Crypto.com Arena court, where there was a line of eager Lakers fans — several dozen deep — waiting to meet and greet the wing player who is quickly becoming a reliable team contributor.
Cam Reddish bounced around on three different teams through his first four seasons in the NBA. Now he’s got a receiving line waiting to greet him in L.A. pic.twitter.com/jCcctto07t
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 3, 2023
“I haven’t had an atmosphere like this I don’t think in my entire NBA career,” Reddish said last month when asked about his Lakers experience thus far. “It’s been a lot of fun. A blessing. I’m just looking forward to the future.”