SALT LAKE CITY — Just three games into the Lakers’ season, there was already reason for pomp and circumstance.
In Walker Kessler’s case, it was a welcome home to where he spent the first four seasons of his NBA career: Salt Lake City.
As the Utah Jazz rebuilt their roster over the last handful of years, the 7-foot-1 big man was a constant for a team that still has reason to dream with No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft Darryn Peterson running the floor at Delta Center now.
Beginning his career with Utah as a rookie out of Auburn, Kessler emerged as an important piece for the Jazz as he averaged 9.4 points and 9.2 rebounds across nearly 200 games. Kessler, after Friday night’s victory against the Clippers, said he was looking forward to Sunday afternoon’s clash against the Jazz.
“I’m so excited to compete against those guys,” he said. “(Jazz) coach (Will) Hardy does a great job with that franchise and my past teammates are really talented, really competitive. So I think it’s going to be a very competitive game and I’m just excited to go compete.”
Hardy reiterated the sentiment on Sunday, speaking positively about the player that Kessler became with the Jazz and how he’d have to adjust to coaching against him rather than drawing up plays for him. The Jazz head coach said he was not surprised whatsoever by how well Kessler had started with the Lakers through two games.
“Walk’s a good young player,” Hardy said. “Obviously (he) does most of his work on both sides of the ball around the rim. You know we’re gonna have to make good choices offensively around the rim when he’s the primary defender.”
During media day in September, Kessler referred to negotiations as a restricted free agent as an “interesting process,” but called Utah a “special place.”
“It was the first organization that gave me a chance to play,” Kessler said then. “There’s a lot of special people there, and going through that process, I didn’t really know what was going to happen.”
What happened was the Jazz accepted an offer from the Lakers they couldn’t pass up – two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps – in exchange for Kessler. He would go on to also sign a four-year, $130 million contract with the Lakers in July.
“When you are in a place for a while and the place means a lot to you, the team means a lot to you and you go somewhere new and it’s your first time back,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said pregame. “It’s always a little weird.”
At the buzzer
Coming off a one-game absence with a right ankle sprain, Lakers forward Jake LaRavia is “good to go,” Redick said when asked if the 24-year-old had any minutes restrictions Sunday.
When it comes to second-year forward Adou Thiero (left knee effusion/swelling) and rookie guard Cameron Carr (right oblique strain), Redick said both players remain day to day despite having missed each of the Lakers’ first three games of the season.