Jared Dudley has a role on the Lakers.
He communicates. He provides toughness. And he spaces the floor in limited minutes.
That led to an oddity: Dudley didn’t make a single shot inside the arc in his first 20 games this season. He missed all seven attempts.
Dudley finally made a 2-pointer in the Lakers’ loss to the Nuggets yesterday.
The longest anyone has gone into a season without making a 2-pointer since 1983-84 (as far back as Basketball-Reference has data):
- Steve Novak (2014-15 Jazz/Thunder) | 24 games | 17-37 on 3-pointers, 0-2 on 2-pointers
- Julyan Stone (2017-18 Hornets) | 23 games | 6-13 on 3-pointers, 0-0 on 2-pointers
- James Jones (2014-15 Cavaliers) | 21 games | 25-66 on 3-pointers, 0-6 on 2-pointers
- Jared Dudley (2019-20 Lakers) | 20 games | 10-19 on 3-pointers, 0-7 on 2-pointers
- Reggie Bullock (2015-16 Pistons) | 19 games | 1-10 on 3-pointers | 0-9 on 2-pointers
Novak’s record stands, but in an NBA that increasingly values 3-point shooting, another specialist could eventually challenge it.