The 2022-23 NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers has been practically void of exciting and positive moments for fans up to this point, but one major highlight that took place earlier this month was the Matt Ryan buzzer-beating 3 that sent a game versus the New Orleans Pelicans to overtime.
MATTY ICE HITS THE COLD-BLOODED TRIPLE!!!! pic.twitter.com/6LfAul5Cyb
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) November 3, 2022
The Lakers ended up winning that game. It accounts for one of just two games that the Lakers have won so far this season.
Though Ryan absolutely played the hero in that game, he recently admitted that he has not yet even been paid by the Lakers. As it turns out, he won’t be getting paid until the 15th of November. It’s an interesting and somewhat comical insight into the life of a relatively unknown NBA player.
“I haven’t even gotten a paycheck yet,” Ryan told ESPN. “We don’t get paid till the 15th.”
Ryan is obviously not on the kind of deal that many NBA players enjoy, but he’s not working for pennies either. He’s currently on a $1.6 million deal with the Lakers. That deal will become fully guaranteed later this season, on Jan. 10 of next year.
Given how he’s contributed to the team thus far, it stands to reason that he will remain on the team up to that Jan. 10 deadline and beyond.
While he’s not offering major contributions to the team, he is managing to do something that very few players currently on the roster have succeeded at doing: scoring from deep.
Though he is averaging just 4.9 points per game, he is hitting 41.4 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. It’s by far the best shooting percentage on the team amongst players who have shot more than 1.0 3-pointer per game so far this season.
While Ryan’s story may be a nice one for Lakers fans to follow, it hasn’t done much to lessen the sting that has come with losing games in bunches. The Lakers are just 2-9 on the season and are just a half game ahead of the last place Houston Rockets in the Western Conference.
It has been an incredible fall from grace for LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the rest of the Lakers organization.
At the moment, it is hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Fans and experts alike have already written the Lakers off, and many are predicting that they will miss the playoffs for a second straight season.
Of course, a big trade could change the trajectory of the current season. However, if the organization wants to compete this season, its front office is going to have to make a move sooner rather than later.
It will be interesting to see how Ryan’s role with the team changes whether a big trade is made or not.
