Darvin Ham ‘Excited’ About Lakers’ Young Guard, Praises Summer League Performance

Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham appears to be buying stock in young guard Max Christie after a strong start to the 2023 NBA Summer League.

When the Lakers drafted Max Christie out of Michigan State with the No. 35 pick in the 2022 NBA draft, there was plenty of intrigue around the selection. While Christie played just one season for the Spartans, he didn’t have stats that jump off the page (9.3 points, 3.5 rebounds) in college, but he showcased some of that upside in limited minutes as a rookie.

Christie, who saw action in 41 games for the Lakers last season, averaged 12.5 minutes per game with marks of 3.1 points and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 41.9% from three-point range and 41.5% from the field. He's been high on the radar of fans heading into 2023 NBA Summer League and certainly hasn't disappointed.

While speaking with Marc Stein and Chris Haynes on the #thisleague UNCUT podcast, Ham praised Christie specifically, along with a few other players.

“It’s been beautiful to watch. And one of our young kids, we’re really, really excited about, Max Christie going into his second year in the league. I told him he needs to step up and show his leadership abilities, and he’s done that along with Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis, Colin Castleton, D’Moi Hodge—we got Cole Swider,” Ham said. “We have some really good players under our umbrella that people are getting a chance to see, and they’re playing the right way.”

Christie was one of the few players still under contract for the Lakers heading into this offseason, joining LeBron James and Anthony Davis as the few guaranteed contracts. 

Through his first two games in Las Vegas, Christie logged 30.9 minutes thus far while posting marks of 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and an impressive 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 42.9% from the field. Arguably the most impressive aspect of Christie's stat line to this point is that he's shooting 57.1% from three-point range and clearly looks to have taken a step forward in his young NBA career.