Spencer Dinwiddie essentially had a choice of two teams once he was waived by the Toronto Raptors. He wound up choosing the Los Angeles Lakers over the Dallas Mavericks, and he did it for an interesting reason.
On Monday, Dinwiddie told reporters that signing with the Mavericks would have been the easier and more comfortable choice, but that he felt he needed the greater challenge of joining the Lakers.
“The two situations kind of felt like this: Let’s say you were a kid and you got your a– whupped by the bully,” Dinwiddie said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “Dallas would’ve been like your momma being like, ‘It’s OK, baby. Don’t worry about it.’ Lakers are like your dad: ‘Nah, you better go out there and fight ’til you win.’ You feel me? And I just felt like that was what I needed at the time.”
It is easy to see why Dinwiddie’s ultimate choice will be viewed as the more difficult one. He had familiarity with Dallas, having played on the Mavericks team that made the Western Conference Finals in 2022. At one point, he even seemed to be leaning that way. In contrast, the Lakers have a worse record, fewer existing ties for Dinwiddie to lean on, and much higher expectations. That combination is apparently what the veteran guard wants right now, though it helps that he is a Los Angeles native and a childhood Laker fan.
Dinwiddie was averaging 12.6 points per game for the Brooklyn Nets this season before being shipped to Toronto for Dennis Schroder and ultimately waived.
