Last offseason, veteran wing Kent Bazemore had a couple of West rivals coming for his services: The Lakers and the Warriors. Golden State was offering two years and reportedly a little more money. The Lakers put a one-year veteran minimum offer on the table but with a larger role — plus Los Angeles had LeBron James, had won the NBA title just a season before, and looked primed to be contenders again. The Warriors, coming off a lot of injuries, had a lot of questions.
Bazemore chose the Lakers.
Bazemore turned down more money and years (two) from the Warriors, sources say, but believes he will have a bigger role and opportunity to win a championship with the Lakers. Bazemore is betting on himself. https://t.co/rw1VyXMN9c
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 3, 2021
Friday morning, as the Warriors basked in the glow of a return to the NBA Finals, Bazemore Tweeted out his regret.
Congrats to my homies…….
— Kenny Baze (@24Bazemore) May 27, 2022
But I’m sick bruh 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪
Like just about everything with the Lakers this past season, nothing went according to plan for Bazemore. He was supposed to be a defensively versatile 3&D wing around the LeBron/Anthony Davis/Russell Westbrook core, but he struggled from 3 early (shooting close to 30% for a long time) and, over the course of the season, seemed to lose his minutes to Avery Bradley (a Frank Vogel favorite). As Malik Monk and Austin Reeves emerged as the better wing options, Bazemore started racking up DNPs.
Bazemore went after the ring last offseason, but it turns out there was no place like home.
