“Pushing a little bit of an identity crisis” - LA Lakers’ Kent Bazemore on playing for 4th team in 3 seasons

Kent Bazemore of the LA Lakers is on his fourth team in just three seasons. Despite being a veteran of the game, Bazemore is still figuring things out in his second stint with the Lakers.

In a press conference on Saturday's practice day for the Lakers, Bazemore admitted that he is having a little identity crisis. The 32-year-old guard is just trying to figure things out and hopefully, he can help the Lakers win a championship this season.

"This is my fourth team in three seasons. Playbooks, personnel, it’s been a lot of moving parts around me and pushing a little bit of an identity crisis at times so I’ve been climbing out of that and trying to figure things out. The energy and effort is there, what I’ve been focused on is the conditioning and how the body is holding up so all that stuff will come in due time."

Kent Bazemore spent the 2020-21 NBA season with the Golden State Warriors before signing with the LA Lakers this offseason. For the 2019-20 NBA season, Bazemore split his time with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Sacramento Kings. It's the toughest stretch of the 10-year veteran's career.

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Kent Bazemore happy to be back with the LA Lakers

Kent Bazemore was part of the LA Lakers in the 2013-14 NBA Season.

Before the 2014 trade deadline, the LA Lakers acquired Kent Bazemore from the Golden State Warriors. Bazemore spent only half a season with the Lakers and it ended prematurely due to injury. The following summer he signed for the Atlanta Hawks.

Now, in his second stint with the LA Lakers, Bazemore is happy to have the opportunity to come back and complete his journey. He has the chance to win an NBA championship unlike in his first spell when the Lakers were a lottery team.

“It’s just good to see it come full circle being back year. I was here last time, I think they won 19 games or something and I’m here now with an opportunity to win a championship so talk about full circle, you leave and go on your journey, it’s a scary world out there, you take your bumps and bruises and you keep putting in the work, making the right decisions over and over and over again and you find yourself with all you can ask for, the chance to win it all. So definitely been blessed and appreciative of the situation.”

Kent Bazemore started his career as an undrafted free agent for the Warriors in 2012. He was traded to the LA Lakers in his second season before signing a big contract with the Atlanta Hawks in 2014. After five years in Atlanta, he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers where his whirlwind path back to the Lakers started.

LA Lakers head coach Frank Vogel liked what he saw with Bazemore's play this preseason despite the team going winless. With no clear starting shooting guard entering the season, Bazemore could be in for a much larger role.