{"id":103887,"date":"2024-10-29T16:30:08","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T20:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=103887"},"modified":"2024-10-29T16:30:08","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T20:30:08","slug":"lakers-christian-koloko-update-music-jj-redick-ears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/29\/lakers-christian-koloko-update-music-jj-redick-ears\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers\u2019 Christian Koloko Update Is Music To JJ Redick\u2019s Ears"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Lakers will indeed have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kolokch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christian Koloko<\/a> at their disposal this season, as the 7-foot-1 center has been medically cleared by the NBA\u2019s Fitness-to-Play Panel, per ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Lakers 7-footer Christian Koloko has been medically cleared by the NBA\u2019s fitness-to-play panel, sources tell ESPN.<\/p>\n<p>Koloko will begin practicing with the Lakers this week and ramp up to play for first time since April 2023 and a blood clot issue that threatened his career. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dS7QrlrptC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/dS7QrlrptC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1851297739767754827?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 29, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Koloko\u2019s career was temporarily halted by concerns about <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/18\/raptors-draft-pick-cleared-by-doctors-after-blood-clot-issue-christian-koloko\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a blood clotting issue<\/a>. In fact, in 2023-24, the Arizona product was forced to sit out the entire season. As a result, since being selected 33rd overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, he\u2019s played just 58 total games.<\/p>\n<h2>Lakers\u2019 Christian Koloko Update Is Music To JJ Redick\u2019s Ears<\/h2>\n<p>Now that Koloko is cleared, he\u2019ll have to ramp up his physical activity and work himself back into game shape. At just 24 years old, there\u2019s no doubt that he will, but it\u2019ll be a process. With that being said, Koloko\u2019s medical update should be music to Lakers head coach JJ Redick\u2019s ears. While Los Angeles has gotten off to a great start under the first time head coach, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/19\/los-angeles-lakers-notes-and-rumors-lakers-to-be-shorthanded-up-front-to-begin-season-bronny-james-jr-quincy-olivari-and-roster-moves\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">their big man depth is thin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/woodch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christian Wood<\/a> remains sidelined while he rehabs from a knee surgery. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vandeja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jarred Vanderbilt<\/a> is still recovering from having procedures performed on both of his feet. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anderco01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colin Castleton<\/a> was waived in order to make room for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/o\/olivaqu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quincy Olivari<\/a>. As a result, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hayesja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaxson Hayes<\/a> has been the team\u2019s only backup big.<\/p>\n<h3>Just What The Doctor Ordered<\/h3>\n<p>To be fair, Hayes has done okay to start the season. He\u2019s been reasonably active, averaging 5.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per game. He\u2019s been extremely efficient, shooting 90.0 percent from the floor. However, he hasn\u2019t protected the rim as well as one would expect a 7-footer to.<\/p>\n<p>This is one area where Koloko could outshine the six-year veteran.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Christian Koloko DEFENSE 2022-23 Raptors Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rOvM9yG9FiE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Averaging 1.0 block in 13.8 minutes per game, Koloko\u2019s timing and 7-foot-5 wingspan allow him protect the rim at a high level. With the Lakers ranking 27th in opponent\u2019s two-point percentage (57.6) and 17th in blocks per game (5.5) despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Davis<\/a> averaging 2.5 blocks per game in his hot start, they arguably need Koloko to shore up their rim defense.<\/p>\n<p>That may be the case even when Wood and Vanderbilt return. Wood is an effective defender when engaged but is an offensive-minded player. Vanderbilt is an exceptional defender but better guarding out in space than protecting the paint. If Davis \u2014who has only played in over 60 games twice in his Lakers tenure \u2014sustains an injury, Koloko might be their only surefire shot-blocker.<\/p>\n<p>If there\u2019s one more benefit to Koloko\u2019s availability, it\u2019s that he can plug right into Redick\u2019s schemes offensively.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Christian Koloko OFFENSE 2022-23 Raptors Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Bf0_zwgTwuk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s lithe and athletic enough to thrive as a roll man. He can stretch the floor out to three-point range. Though he isn\u2019t on Davis\u2019s level, he could do a pretty good job mimicking him in the second unit.<\/p>\n<p>Basically, Koloko is just what the doctor ordered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Lakers will indeed have Christian Koloko at their disposal this season, as the 7-foot-1 center has been medically cleared by the NBA\u2019s Fitness-to-Play Panel, per ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania. Lakers 7-footer Christian Koloko has been medically cleared by the NBA\u2019s fitness-to-play panel, sources tell ESPN. Koloko will begin practicing with the Lakers this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":103900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1608,62,3],"tags":[240,4544,3145,2941,1962,2279],"class_list":["post-103887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-anthony-davis","tag-christian-koloko","tag-christian-wood","tag-jarred-vanderbilt","tag-jaxson-hayes","tag-jj-redick"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}