Former Michigan State Guard is Budding NBA Star
Los Angeles Lakers guard Max Christie is budding into a potential NBA star right before our eyes.
Heading into the 2024-25 NBA campaign, Christie's role was somewhat undetermined. Would he play big minutes? Would he even be a part of the Lakers' regular rotation?
Well, the former Michigan State Spartans standout has now established himself as a key player and then some for Los Angeles, as he has been inserted into the starting lineup and is thriving.
Christie is off to a fantastic start to the month of January. He set a career high with 28 points in the Lakers' win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 2, and for the month as a whole, he is averaging 17 points per game on 57.1 percent shooting.
That came after an improved showing during the month of December when the third-year player logged 10 points per game while draining 38.8 percent of his 3-pointers.
Christie entered the NBA as a second-round draft pick in 2022 after spending just one season at East Lansing.
The 21-year-old actually probably could have been a lottery pick in 2023 had he stayed one more year with the Spartans, but his gamble seems to have paid off.
On the season overall, Christie is registering 8 points over 23.1 minutes a night on 45.5/37.5/88.0 shooting splits. He boasts a very impressive true-shooting percentage of 61.8 percent, and his versatile defensive chops have been on full display.
That's after Christie struggled to find a role with the Lakers over his first couple of seasons, recording 3.1 and 4.2 points per game, respectively, on less-than-stellar efficiency in Years 1 and 2.
Christie still has a long way to go. He is still clearly raw in some areas, but he has demonstrated vast two-way potential and could end up becoming a driving force on a potential playoff run for Los Angeles.
One thing to really note is Christie's free-throw rate, which has increased tremendously over the last month. He has gotten to the charity stripe at least twice in 15 of his last 18 contests, and he has attempted four or more foul shots seven times throughout that span.
Keep an eye on the Michigan State product for the rest of the season.
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Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.