During Sunday night’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets, LeBron James could be heard imploring his teammates to keep the Rockets’ rapidly improving center Christian Wood in check.
Wood went undrafted out of college before eventually making his NBA debut in 2015 with the Philadelphia 76ers, beginning a bumpy path that eventually led him to be traded to the Rockets less than two months ago.
Over his tumultuous career, the 25-year-old Wood has played with six NBA teams and had spent virtually all that time coming off the bench.
However, after Wood was claimed by the New Orleans Pelicans in March 2019, he began to exhibit the sort of ability that could make an impact. Despite an impressive eight-game stint with the Pelicans, the team released him in July, with the Detroit Pistons then signing him.
In 62 games with the Pistons last year, Wood averaged 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, which were merely a warmup for the breakout campaign he’s having this season.
In Wood’s seven games this season, he’s now averaging 23.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game and has become more of a shot-blocker, averaging 1.9 blocks per game.
That improvement is something that James was clearly aware of when he took the line last night. It’s also something that could be a factor down the road as the Lakers look for ways to capture another NBA title.
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