Spencer Dinwiddie was born in Los Angeles and went to Taft High School in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, where he was a Lakers fan growing up.
Dinwiddie could have said his family wanting him to come home was why he chose to join the Lakers over the Mavericks as a free agent after being traded to Toronto at the deadline and then waived. Instead, he went with a more round-about logic that sounded like Peter Griffin trying to explain this week’s hijinks to Lois on Family Guy. Quote via Johan Buha of The Athletic.
“The two situations kind of felt like this: Let’s say you were a kid and you got your ass whupped by the bully,” Dinwiddie said after his first practice with the Lakers. “Dallas would’ve been like your momma being like, ‘It’s OK, baby. Don’t worry about it.’ Lakers are like your dad: ‘Nah, you better go out there and fight ‘til you win.’ You feel me? And I just felt like that was what I needed at the time.”
I’m not sure I feel him. Is he saying he thought the Lakers had a better chance of winning in the playoffs?
Whatever the reason, this is still a good signing for the Lakers of the best player available on the buyout market. Dinwiddie adds another shot creator off the dribble in the mix with LeBron James, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves. However, how much he moves the needle in the playoffs is a question — he does not bring plus defense or shooting (32% from 3 this season) to the table. But he will get his chance to help his hometown team during the stretch run of the playoffs.
