Texas Basketball: Avery Bradley adds to list of players sitting out restart
Former Texas basketball All-Big 12 guard Avery Bradley becomes the second Longhorn in the NBA to sit out of the season’s restart.
The list of NBA players sitting out the planned restart in the “bubble” at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL, next month keeps growing. And earlier this week, two key players that are on teams included in the planned restart already announced they will he sitting the rest of the way. One of those is the Washington Wizards sharpshooting 6-foot-10 Latvian power forward Davis Bertans. And the other is former Texas basketball star guard and Los Angeles Lakers defensive standout Avery Bradley.
According to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski from earlier this week, Bradley won’t play in the “bubble” with the Lakers next month. And he told ESPN that the main reason why was family concerns.
The news that Bradley won’t be playing for the Lakers in the NBA’s 22-team season resumption, with games starting on July 31, dropped on June 23. He’s the second Texas Ex in the NBA that announced intentions to sit out of the season’s restart. San Antonio Spurs All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge will also be missing the rest of the season to rest an upper-body injury.
It does come as little surprise that a few significant players like Bertans, Aldridge, and Bradley are sitting out the rest of the delayed season. There were going to be a few players that still weren’t rested or recovered enough to play yet. Fellow former Longhorn superstar Kevin Durant fits that bill.
Moreover, this is a big hit to the Lakers rotation heading into the stretch run of the season, once it resumes at Disney World. Bradley was one of the very best perimeter defenders on the Lakers roster, so they’ll have to find a replacement for that void in the rotation now.
Bradley played in 49 games with the Lakers prior to the season’s hiatus (starting in 44 of them). He averaged 8.6 points per game, 2.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 0.9 steals, to go along with a 53.7 true shooting percentage.
Next. 12 biggest villains in Longhorns history. dark
This loss will definitely hurt the Lakers rotation, but the free agent market will still be open for them to pursue any eligible players. And the list of former Longhorns that will still be playing later this season is shrinking fast, with Bradley the latest to sit out.