LeBron James says Lakers swingman Talen Horton-Tucker is special talent

Iowa State product has chance to earn spot in rotation for L.A.

LOS ANGELES -- It’s not everyday someone is singled out by perhaps the best player of the game as a player on the rise.

But that was the case for Los Angeles swingman Talen Horton-Tucker, when LeBron James praised his young teammate via twitter.

“Telling you right now! This kid is flat out SPECIAL! Mark my words,” James said on a repost of Horton’s Tucker’s highlight video from his impressive performance in the Lakers’ 87-81 win in the team’s preseason opener over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Telling you right now! This kid is flat out SPECIAL! Mark my words https://t.co/KOYtlFxNVV

— LeBron James (@KingJames) December 12, 2020

Horton-Tucker finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in 37 minutes of work. He showed an ability to finish at the rim or find teammates for open looks on slithery drives to the basket.

Playing with him for the first time, new Lakers addition Wesley Matthews said Horton Tucker has some maturity to his game.

“Honestly, with the most respect, I didn’t have any awareness of him, truthfully,” Matthews said. “And it wasn’t until in the game that I knew how old he was. (Kawhi) Leonard was like, ‘Hey Wesley, Talen’s 19?’ and I was like ‘Huh, 19?’ So, I asked him and he said he had just turned 20, and I was like, ‘Wow.’

“Special is definitely the word to describe his game. He’s young, but he’s got all the tools. He’s a dog. He’s tough on the offensive and defensive end. He’s crafty. He’s got some stuff to him and he’s only going to better. Obviously, he’s learning from one of the best ever to touch a basketball, and he’s just going to continue to grind and continue to work.”

The Lakers moved up in the second round to select Horton-Tucker out of Iowa State in the second-round of last year’s draft. Tucker, who turned 20 last month, spent most of last season with the South Bay Lakers in the G League but was promoted to the Lakers at the end of the season and spent the rest of the year in the Orlando bubble, with a front-row seat as his team won the NBA title.

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel outlined his expectations for Horton-Tucker to earn consistent minutes during the regular season.

“With any young player, you have to hold your own on the defensive end,” Vogel said. “And you have to play offensively fairly mistake-free. You can’t be out there with turnovers and bad shots -- execution pieces that aren’t done at a high enough level. So I think it starts with holding his own on the defensive end, which he’s so far shown me that he can do.

“And then offensively, playing within himself, minimizing mistakes and that's just holding your own. But we feel like he can do a lot more than that, so that’s an encouraging thing for me. We feel like we can put the ball in his hands to be an attacker to the paint, and he’s also very good on the backside shooting the basketball. But it starts with the defensive end.”