Lakers Practice: Marshall, Marshall, Marshall

Kendall Marshall was widely applauded for Friday night's game, but the point guard received an interesting message from his mother.

On a Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers met for a practice, and Kendall Marshall’s impressive Friday night performance was still fresh enough to eat.

“He straightened up a lot of things,” Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni started out praising Marshall. “The rhythm that he gives us is what’s important.”

D’Antoni talked about Marshall making good decisions and pointed out that the 22-year-old only made one bad decision against the Jazz, alluding to Marshall’s lone turnover.

“He throws the ball in the right way. I mean, it’s hard to teach that stuff. You either have it or you don’t,” D’Antoni continued.

When asked about the upcoming matchup against Ty Lawson and the Denver Nuggets, D’Antoni referenced his own playing days and talked about why the opposition should, theoretically, not make a difference for Marshall.

“He plays his game. I don’t care who’s in front of him,” D’Antoni said. “Now, he has to stop Ty Lawson—that might be a problem—but Ty Lawson shouldn’t have anything to do with him.”

Marshall was taking everything in stride and was humble about his opportunity.

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“I’m fortunate that I get to play basketball for a living,” Marshall said on Saturday. “I give all thanks for that to my coaches and teammates for making me comfortable, giving me the reigns and telling me to just go out and play basketball.”

Marshall admitted he had experienced a jump in Twitter followers and had received text messages from family and friends after Friday night’s standout performance. However, he shared a unique message from his mother.

“The only text I got back from my mom was she sent me a video clip and told me to stop cursing because they caught me on the bench saying some things,” Marshall smiled. “I guess I got to watch my mouth now.”

Marshall said his mother did not have a basketball background and was a cheerleader.

“All of a sudden, I get to high school and she’s become a basketball analyst.”

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