Following an unexpected tragedy in every sense of the word, Los Angeles Lakers' shooting guard Wayne Ellington suddenly left the team to be with his family. Ellington's father had been shot in his head while driving his 2001 Oldsmobile in Philadelphia. Wayne Ellington Sr. would die early Monday morning.
As news broke and reached the Lakers' guard, the team immediately provided Ellington with an indefinite leave of absence and supported the 26-year-old with a public statement.
The mental toll of this type of event is impossible to understand, but Ellington's departure from the team had dramatic effects for the Lakers on the court. While Ellington was only averaging between four and five shots in 20 minutes per game, the former North Carolina Tar Heel allowed the Lakers to spread the floor.
With the exception of Ed Davis, who does his work close to the basket, Ellington was the Lakers' best shooter in the early season, shooting 57 percent from the field. He was making shots. Also, with a career mark of 38.5 percent from behind the three-point arc, he stretched the floor and provided the team more room to operate on the offensive end.
No coincidence, Ellington's last game before leaving to be with his family was the Lakers' first win of the season. In that game, the shooting guard only missed one shot and scored nine points in 19 minutes. More importantly, the presence of one true shooter allowed the ball to move and shots to be spread around. Five Lakers scored in double figures in that first win.
Over the next four games, Ellington's departure shrunk the floor, and Kobe Bryant, the team's foremost scorer, took on the challenge of creating and shouldering the extra shots necessary to compete.
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In that fourth game without Ellington and the last game before Nick Young returned from injury, Bryant launched 34 shots and scored 44 points in a lopsided loss that had fans rubbing their eyes and teammates struggling to formulate sentences.
In the next game, Young returned and filled the role vacated by Ellington. Young was able to stretch the floor and make shots from distance. Obviously, Young is a far more gifted shot creator than Ellington, but having someone to fill that deep threat was essential for the Lakers' offense. Ryan Kelly's injury complicated matters further.
The most important role that Young filled, however, was a guy Bryant trusted to shoot and make shots. Bryant can create shots, but if players cannot make shots, the 19-year veteran tends to get frustrated and just score on his own.
Ellington's shooting ability made Bryant trust the guard, but once he was gone, the team was short on shooters. Rookie Jordan Clarkson was still too raw, Xavier Henry still did not look right and Ronnie Price held the second-lowest shooting average on the team after 12 games at 28 percent. Incidentally, Henry is bottom of the field goal percentage chart at 25 percent.
On Friday, Ellington expects to be on the floor with the Lakers in Dallas. Likely, he will re-join the team under a reduced role since Young returned and ignited the team to two wins.
Still, Ellington provides the Lakers with an important quality as a guy Bryant trusts to take and make shots. Walking off the court after scoring 44 points in a 21-point loss on a 1-9 team, Bryant looked like a player that lacked belief in his teammates' abilities to score. And that was only four days ago.
