Jared Dudley on Re-Signing with Lakers: They Need Me as Much as I Need Them

AP Photo/David Zalubowski

Jared Dudley doesn’t plan on leaving the Los Angeles Lakers.

Dave McMenamin of ESPN asked the impending free agent if he will re-sign with the Purple and Gold if they offer him a new deal this offseason. 

“One thousand percent,” Dudley said. “C’mon, they need me. They need me like I need them.”

Dudley, 35, was surely being somewhat tongue-in-cheek with the comment given his role on the team the past two seasons. He appeared in 12 games in 2020-21 and averaged 0.5 points and 1.8 rebounds a night.

That was a downturn from his 1.5 points and 1.2 rebounds per game he averaged for the championship version of the Lakers in 2019-20.

There was a time in Dudley’s career when he was more of a contributor.

He averaged double-digit scoring in three straight seasons for the Phoenix Suns from 2010-11 through 2012-13 and has averaged 7.3 points per game throughout a career that started in 2007 when he was a first-round pick of the Charlotte Bobcats.

Dudley has since played for the Bobcats, Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets and Lakers.

The Lakers may revamp their roster this offseason after losing to the Suns in the first round of the playoffs, but Dudley still wants to be a part of the team.