LOS ANGELES_On an otherwise dreary Monday night for the Los Angeles Lakers, hope came from their 19-year-old center.
Ivica Zubac scored a career-high 25 points and added 11 rebounds, becoming the first teenager in Lakers franchise history with at least 25 points and at least 10 rebounds in a game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Perhaps more impressive than that, however, was his commitment to improvement. Despite a blowout Lakers loss to the Denver Nuggets, Zubac didn't lose sight of his bigger goals. He wants to be a versatile defender, and he showed that late in Monday night's 129-101 loss.
"We're trying to switch one through five to get him some experience with having to guard quicker players," Lakers Coach Luke Walton said. "He got a couple threes made on him in the fourth, so we said we'll go away from that. It's not really fair to let these guys target practice Zu out there."
In the moment, Zubac realized he wasn't positioned high enough on those plays. He knew he could do better, so when he came to the bench he asked to stay in the same coverage.
"I wanted to prove that I can guard that high, so when the teams go smaller, I can stay on the court," Zubac said. "That I can stay on the court, whoever's on the other team."
