The next two weeks won’t be JD DuBois’ first time leading a summer league team.
But as an Inglewood native who graduated from Westchester High and played at Loyola Marymount while getting his bachelor’s degree, serving as the Lakers head coach for summer league is even more meaningful.
“First and foremost,” said DuBois, who’s going into his second season as an assistant on coach Darvin Ham’s staff, “just the opportunity of being from L.A., Darv allowing me to join the staff and the organization trusting me to lead this summer league group — no words can describe what it means to me individually.”
DuBois quickly shifted to the collective vision for the next couple of weeks.
“But at the end of the day, I’m an assistant coach,” DuBois said, “and my job is to execute what Darv’s plan is and set that vision for our young players.”
Jalen Hood-Schifino, the former Indiana forward the Lakers selected with the No. 17 pick in the June 22 draft, is among the young players on the team’s 12-man summer league roster.
The Lakers will play the first of their pair of games in the fifth annual California Classic against the Miami Heat at 3 p.m. on Monday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
They’ll play again Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs in Sacramento before competing in the Summer League in Las Vegas.
“The main thing is I want to go there and win games,” Hood-Schifino said. “And just be Jalen. Going back to the long pre-draft process, I’ve been working on a lot of things. Showing my shooting a little bit more, decision-making — I want to go down there and showcase everything.”
Maxwell Lewis, the No. 40 pick out of Pepperdine the Lakers acquired the draft rights to, is also on the roster.
“Just showing I can shoot consistently,” Lewis said of what he wants to show in summer league. “And just guard. I’ve just been focusing on defense, getting up on my guy and just being aggressive. Just showing I’m a better competitor than I was at Pepperdine.”
Second-year guard Max Christie, who the Lakers drafted at No. 35 last year and played in 41 games (nine playoff appearances) in 2022-23, will play in summer league for the second consecutive year.
“Something we saw with him during the year was just his defense,” DuBois said of Christie. “His ability to use his length and size. If he can take another step of just guarding multiple positions, living at the rim [and] attacking out of closeouts, that’d be a couple of areas he’s already developed in and now it’s just giving him the possessions to showcase it.”
After playing in Sacramento, the Lakers’ first game in Las Vegas will come against the Golden State Warriors at 8 p.m. on Friday at Thomas & Mack Center. They have three more games at the same venue scheduled:
- Sunday: Hornets (1 p.m.);
- July 12: Celtics (7 p.m.);
- July 14: Grizzlies (7:30 p.m.).
The date and opponent for the Lakers’ fifth game in Las Vegas will be determined by the results of their first four matchups.
The Lakers summer league roster (No.: Player; position.; height):
29: Damion Baugh, guard; 6-4
26: Colin Castleton, center; 6-11
10: Max Christie, guard; 6-5
30: LJ Figueroa, forward; 6-6
27: Alex Fudge, forward; 6-8
36: Bryce Hamilton, guard; 6-4
55: D’Moi Hodge, guard; 6-4
11: Jalen Hood-Schifino, guard; 6-6
31: Sacha Killeya-Jones, center; 6-11
21: Maxwell Lewis, forward; 6-7
14: Scotty Pippen Jr., guard; 6-1
20: Cole Swider, forward; 6-9
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