How did Wenyen Gabriel end up at LA Lakers? Tracing power forward’s NBA journey so far

Wenyen Gabriel has established himself as a solid second-unit player for the LA Lakers this season. Coach Darvin Ham typically subs him in for Anthony Davis. Fortunately for the Lakers, Gabriel has been delivering on his role and is playing a decent amount of minutes for the squad. But how exactly did he find his way to LA?

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Wenyen Gabriel's NBA journey

Phoenix Suns vs. LA Lakers.

Wenyen Gabriel is a South Sudanese-American NBA player currently playing for the LA Lakers. Before becoming a role player for the Purple and Gold, Gabriel was a former five-star recruit in high school. He played at Trinity High School for three years and then transferred to Wilbraham & Monson Academy in 2014.

Wenyen Gabriel averaged 22 points, 14 rebounds, seven blocks and 6.3 assists in 2015–16 as a senior. Similar to his game today, Gabriel was an efficient inside player and played tremendous defense. Due to his high school performances, ESPN ranked him No. 14 among the 5-star prospects in the class of 2016.

Gabriel announced that he was going to enroll at the University of Kentucky in October 2015. This was a year before his college debut. However, by the time he made it into college, Gabriel had taken on a smaller role.

On Oct. 31, 2016, he made his debut for the Kentucky Wildcats against Clarion University in an exhibition game. He had nine points, two rebounds, and one assist in 17 minutes while playing off the bench. He participated in 38 games as a freshman, making 23 starts, and averaged 4.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in 17.8 minutes.

In 37 games as a sophomore, Gabriel averaged 6.8 points and 5.4 rebounds. He solidified his role as a vital player in Kentucky's success that year. He led the team with 40 blocks. After his second season concluded, Gabriel declared for the 2018 NBA draft. Unfortunately, for him, he went undrafted that year and didn't play an NBA game until the 2019-20 season.

Wenyen Gabriel initially signed a two-way contract with the Sacramento Kings in 2018. However, he never made any appearances on either the main roster or the G League team. The Kings then decided to convert his contract into a standard deal for the 2019-20 season. He finally made his NBA debut, but it wasn't exactly what he was hoping for.

Gabriel had one of the oddest starts of any NBA career. He used to be a bench warmer who transferred to seven teams in only a span of three seasons. Aside from Sacramento, it was clear that the other teams didn't see potential in Gabriel. But then came the 2021-22 season, when he landed on the Lakers bench and was given the opportunity to show what he's capable of.

Luckily, the Lakers last year had a nightmare season with most of their key players injured. This might've been bad for the team but it was good for Gabriel. He had a plethora of opportunities to play good minutes to showcase his capabilities. His efforts paid off as the Lakers' front office decided to keep him around and is now playing a bigger role.

Wenyen Gabriel is now averaging larger figures compared to his previous seasons. He is averaging 6.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and is shooting 55.8%. Gabriel also gets more playing time with an average of 15.4 minutes. It's definitely a huge boost compared to his previous playing time when he barely even played 10 minutes.