Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors controls the ball against Avery Bradley and Russell Westbrook of the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half of a game at Staples Center.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
For three-and-a-half quarters, the Golden State Warriors and their fanbase were able to forget that a player who was on their roster just a few days prior was now sitting on the opposing Los Angeles Lakers bench.
But then Kent Bazemore got into foul trouble, which meant that it was time to shine for veteran guard Avery Bradley, and shine he did in his limited action on Tuesday. In eight minutes of game time, Bradley scored 6 points, going 2-of-3 from 3-point range, recorded an assist and rebound, was a solid defender, and, quite frankly, outplayed starting point guard Russell Westbrook.
This particularly concerned some Warriors fans who recognized that this kind of performance was one that could have happened for Golden State instead. Bradley was with the Warriors in the preseason, but was ultimately cut this past weekend, much to the chagrin of stars Steph Curry and Draymond Green.
The silver lining in all of this for particularly forlorn Golden State fans wondering if the franchise made a mistake is that Los Angeles did not utilize Bradley until the team absolutely needed him. That is to say, when the Lakers were falling behind the Warriors. Had the Lakers sooner realized what Bradley could contribute, perhaps this would have been a lengthy morning-after discussion.
Here’s some more good news: the Warriors chose to fill one of their last roster spots with Gary Payton II instead of Bradley. While he was relegated to garbage-time minutes, he also made a big impact during his limited time on the court.
