The Los Angeles Lakers held their first practice of the regular season on Sunday morning, and Chris Kaman was back following a bout with Gastroenteritis.
“Yea, for sure,” Kaman said when asked if he would play in Tuesday’s season opener against the Los Angeles Clippers. “I was winded today, but a couple more days and I’ll be alright.”
Kaman, who played eight seasons with the Clippers, was unsure of whether he would start or not. Coach Mike D’Antoni laughed at the media’s attempts to expose his opening night starting five, and the players also appeared to be in the dark.
“We could play guys in different combos,” D’Antoni said on Sunday. “We’ll experiment a little bit with it.”
D’Antoni also further discussed the possibility of Steve Nash, the Lakers’ 39-year-old point guard, taking nights off. During Thursday’s practice, Nash admitted that the coaches and training staff had discussed sitting the Canadian on second nights of back-to-backs.
“Very possible that he sits out,” D’Antoni said about Nash on back-to-backs. “The idea is to cut down the number of games and keep the minutes consistent for him.”
With regards to the Lakers’ final roster, the coach confirmed that the 15 players currently on the team would all make the final roster past Monday’s deadline.
At the end of the practice, Pau Gasol came out and talked about how he felt entering the season.
“I feel better than what I expected,” Gasol said. “I’m really happy with how I feel right now.”
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“We have a tough start, pretty demanding. A lot of games in a short period of time to start off, but that’s what the NBA is about.”
The Lakers will hold one final practice on Monday before Tuesday’s regular season opener against the Clippers at Staples Center. Then, the team turns around and heads to Oakland to play the Golden State Warriors on the second night of a back-to-back. The NBA is back.
