Lakers News: Unpacking A Day In The Offseason Life For Rookie Jalen Hood-Schifino

The Indiana product has been gearing up for his first NBA season.

Your Los Angeles Lakers' highest-drafted rookie, 6'6" shooting guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, has been enjoying his first proper NBA offseason as he prepares to make his debut at Crypto.com Arena next month.

In a fresh chat with Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the No. 17 pick in the 2023 NBA draft broke down how he's been preparing for his inaugural NBA season.

"I think just because I’m able to be in the gym right now and finally lock in on the main thing," the 20-year-old told Buha. "Obviously, going through the pre-draft process and doing different things, you have a lot of things coming at you business-wise, basketball-wise. So, I think now it’s just about getting better every single day and trying to see improvements."

When asked for specifics on his day-to-day regimen, Hood-Schifino took Buha through a proverbial day in his summer life.

"Get in there, get my treatment, get in the weight room, hit the court, get my daily vitamins in," Hood-Schifino said. "Now, we’re starting to have pretty much everyone in there. So, now we’ve been able to compete 3-on-3, 4-on-4, 5-on-5. So, yeah, it’s been great."

A big offseason goal for Hood-Schifino has been improving his long range ability. He converted just a third of triple 4.2 triple attempts during his lone NCAA season, and given that he'll be playing off the ball way more at the next level, he's trying to become a useful floor spacer at the next level.

"I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress," the All-Big Ten Teamer said of his three-point shooting. "Being in the gym every day, getting up a lot of reps, working on my footwork, my form, mechanics and everything. Getting everything sharp. That’s definitely been a strong point and something that I’ve been really attacking every day."

Additionally, Hood-Schifino revealed to Buha that he has logged most of his face time with two of the Lakers' assistant coaches under second-year head coach Darvin Ham: JD DuBois and Phil Handy.

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