Toward the end of last season, Josh Hart enjoyed the way the narrative about the Lakers’ young core had changed.
When his rookie season started, no one talked about him as part of it. When it ended, they did.
Hart, a 6-foot-5 guard, took that into the offseason and returned for his second year as a Laker picking up right where he left off. On Thursday night, in a 128-123 win over the Sacramento Kings, Lakers coach Luke Walton gave Hart his second start of the preseason at shooting guard. Hart is competing with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to be the Lakers’ starting shooting guard.