Dennis Schröder has experienced a mixed comeback with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The captain of the German national basketball team played for a good nine and a half minutes in the penultimate test of the Lakers before the start of the NBA next week in the 113:118 against the Minnesota Timberwolves and did not have a basket or assist during this time. As planned, he didn’t play at all in the second half.
“It was cool, it was nice, but Coach said directly that I would only play a few minutes because I only arrived a few days ago,” Schröder told the German Press Agency. “Now there’s a friendly against Sacramento and then it starts.”
After his strong performance and bronze with the German selection at the European Championships, Schröder only started training with the NBA record champions on Monday. The last Lakers test before the opener against defending champions Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night (local time) is Friday against the Sacramento Kings.
“I’m not worried about Dennis,” said NBA superstar LeBron James, praising Schröder’s strong performance at the European Championship. “He’s played enough basketball, we just have to see that he catches up,” said James, referring to the missed training sessions.
Schröder is playing for the Lakers for the second time in his career. After the 2020/2021 season, they parted ways. According to media reports, Schröder turned down a four-year, $84 million contract before eventually signing with the Boston Celtics for a year and $5.9 million. The 29-year-old contradicted those reports on Monday, stressing there had never been a contract offer and he had never turned down anything. On the fringes of the encounter, a senior Lakers decision-maker confirmed this statement by the German Press Agency. At the time, Schröder’s advisors were asked about contract talks, but Schröder’s side only wanted to negotiate in the summer. The reported numbers are wrong and Russell Westbrook was finally brought to Los Angeles.
