Jared Dudley thought he would be wearing a Lakers jersey right now. When the Lakers made their way to Dallas in December, Dudley was on the court, but in a completely different role than he imagined–a coach for the Dallas Mavericks.
When Dudley took off his Lakers jersey in early June 2021 after a series-ending loss to the Suns in the first round, he fully expected to put it back on a few months later. But free agency passed and he was preparing for the season when a zoom call with the Lakers took him by surprise.
“I had a Zoom meeting with them,” Dudley said.