Growing up a Lakers fan, I got to catch the tail end of Magic Johnson before the HIV announcement. After Magic left, it was a couple of down years for the Lakers as they struggled to carve out a post “Showtime” identity.
In the 1993 NBA draft, the Lakers drafted point guard Nick Van Exel out of Cincinnati with the 37th pick. Van Exel would go on to average 13.6 points and 5.8 assists a game in his rookie season for the Lakers as the team would stumble to a 33-49 record.
Van Exel played only five seasons with LA, but watching him play was certainly entertaining. Given the nickname “Nick The Quick,” Van Exel had a herky jerk style of play. He was quick off the dribble and could instantly pull up from three and knock down shots.
When Shaquille O’Neal came to the Lakers during the 1996-97 season, Van Exel averaged a career-high 8.5 assists. When the 1997-98 season rolled around, the Lakers had a great chance to win the title. They had depth and were very athletic.
With O’Neal in the middle, Van Exel and Eddie Jones led the backcourt. Off the bench was a then 19 year old Kobe Bryant, who started to come into his own, along with Elden Campbell and Derek Fisher. The 1997-98 season also coincided with Nick Van Exel making his first NBA All-Star team; one of four Lakers to be selected.
Unfortunately, Van Exel would eventually be injured. And when he came back, Derek Fisher had taken over his starting position. So it was the beginning of the end for Van Exel with the Lakers.
Following the Lakers’ disappointing playoff loss to the Utah Jazz, Van Exel was traded to the Denver Nuggets. Watching Van Exel play for the Lakers was fun, even though it never amounted to any titles, especially in the pre-Shaq days.
Although those Lakers teams never raised any banners, watching Van Exel and the young Lakers run up and down the court was entertaining night in and night out. Rewatching a couple of those old Lakers games, I found them quite enjoyable. It brought back old memories as a kid.
Van Exel played 15 seasons in the NBA and averaged 14.4 points and 6.6 assists per game for six teams while shooting 40% from the field and 35% from beyond the arch.
Nowadays, Van Exel is an assistant coach in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks. “I really didn’t think about coaching until 2003, when I was with the Mavericks,” Van Exel told Sports Illustrated’s FanNation. “But, being a point guard in the NBA, if you’re vocal, if you’re calling meetings, planning events for your team, you’re supposed to pretty much be an extension of the head coach. That’s pretty much coaching on the job.”
After 3 years as an assistant with Memphis, and now entering year 2 with the Hawks, it will be interesting to see whether a team takes a chance on Van Exel as a head coach in the future.
-LaMarr Fields
Twitter: @raiderway83
Photo: Brent Hellickson. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.