- Russell Westbrook’s and Kyrie Irving’s playing statuses curiously change as trade rumors heat up
- Report: Lakers are trying to figure out whether Kyrie Irving’s trade request is legitimate or not
- Report: Lakers not willing to include Austin Reaves or Max Christie in potential Kyrie Irving deal
- Report: Lakers could include Patrick Beverley and Lonnie Walker IV in Kyrie Irving trade or separate deal entirely
- Report: Lakers would trade Russell Westbrook and 2 1st-round picks in potential deal for Kyrie Irving
- Report: Lakers could have interest in Atlanta’s Bogdan Bogdanovic
- Report: Kyrie Irving has maintained interest in Lakers as they emerge as potential suitors alongside Mavericks and Suns
- Report: Lakers no longer trying to preserve cap space for 2023 free agency
- Report: Lakers believe they’re 1 move away from being legitimate title contenders
- Report: Lakers have had exploratory trade talks involving Russell Westbrook with Jazz
Tony Allen reveals the precise moment he knew Talen Horton-Tucker was the real deal
- Updated: December 16, 2020
Los Angeles Lakers youngster Talen Horton-Tucker impressed many in the basketball world in his first two preseason games of the new NBA season.
Although Horton-Tucker seemingly came out of nowhere, former NBA player Tony Allen has known since last season that the second-round draft pick was special.
Story time! Tony Allen (@aa000G9) saw Talen Horton-Tucker in person last year and they had an interaction that made TA know he’s for real. pic.twitter.com/oH6Ean0pm5
— Chris Vernon (@ChrisVernonShow) December 15, 2020
“I saw him in the G League. … He killed it,” said Allen. “He had like 29 at halftime. I’m like, ‘He with us?’ That man looked at me and said, ‘I don’t even belong down here.’ He told me that. He said, ‘I don’t belong in no G League. I don’t belong down here.’ Hit a three next play down. Bam. Looked dead at me. I said, ‘That boy real!’ I say, ‘He real.’”
Lakers fans will probably remember Allen as a member of the Boston Celtics teams that battled L.A. in the NBA Finals in 2008 and 2010.
After Allen’s playing career ended in 2018, he moved on to become a player development coach for the Memphis Hustle, the Memphis Grizzlies’ G League affiliate.
Horton-Tucker has already come a long way from the player who barely played during the 2019-20 regular season.
When the campaign resumed in the Orlando, Fla. bubble, Horton-Tucker started getting spot duty during the playoffs and flashed an offensive skill set that few players can boast.
Now, it looks as though he’s making a serious claim to get substantial playing time in the 2020-21 campaign.