NBA legend reveals who will be key for the Lakers: “Not Luka, not AR...”
The Lakers’ biggest X-factor may not be their superstars. Robert Horry says Walker Kessler holds the key to a championship run.
Walker Kessler could become the factor that defines the Los Angeles Lakers ’ season. At least that is what seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry believes, as he stated that the new Lakers center will be far more important than many expect for the team’s aspirations.
After arriving to replace Deandre Ayton as the Lakers’ starting center, Kessler signed a four-year, $129.5 million contract , but he enters the season with one major question mark: his health. The former Jazz player appeared in only five games last season due to a shoulder injury.
For Horry, everything will depend on whether the big man can regain the form that made him one of the NBA’s top rim protectors.
“When you watch what Walker Kessler brings to the game, he’s so incredibly skilled and we haven’t had a big since AD that can block shots like that, pop out for threes,” Horry told ESPN’s “Mason & Ireland Show.”
However, the NBA legend acknowledged that health will be the biggest challenge for the new Lakers center.
“So I just hope he stays healthy — him missing damn near all season, how much rust has he developed? Will he be able to knock that rust off and come back and be the center that everybody’s expecting to be?” Horry wondered.
Horry went even further by saying that the Lakers’ success will not depend on their biggest stars.
“So it’s going to be really interesting to see what he can do because he is the key,” Horry said about Kessler.
“Not Luka [Doncic], not AR [Austin Reaves], he is.”
And his argument makes sense. The path to winning the Western Conference goes through dominant big men such as Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama , while other contenders feature elite frontcourt players like Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Rudy Gobert, and Alperen Sengun.
Last season made it clear that the paint was one of the Lakers’ biggest weaknesses. JJ Redick’s team ranked 19th in the NBA in points allowed in the paint (51.5 per game) , a statistic that highlighted their defensive struggles.
