Film Study: Breaking down Kendrick Nunn’s preseason

Lakers guard Kendrick Nunn missed the entirety of last season after initially suffering an ankle sprain during which he also suffered a bone bruise (a.k.a. microtrabecular fracture) at his knee. It was a long and arduous return-to-play process for the former Miami Heat guard as he suffered multiple setbacks when trying to ramp up activity and was finally shut down late into the season, with an eye on giving him a full offseason to recover and be back at his best.

Heading into the preseason, there was some chatter and consternation about Nunn not yet participating in full contact drills or 5-on-5s. Turns out, that was all part of his methodical ramp-up to make sure he didn’t suffer any more setbacks on the comeback trail.

During the preseason, Nunn has shown off that full health and fitness on both ends of the floor. Let’s take a look at the film.

After he missed last season (and the general stink of the season as a whole for the franchise), it’s easy to forget the level of excitement that came with getting a player of Nunn’s caliber for the midlevel exception. However, he’s clearly reminding folks why they were excited in the first place. The Lakers will certainly be relying on him to do just that as they enter into a pivotal season.

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, is a youth basketball coach at the U-12 level, and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training. Combining his background in biomechanics, movement science, and learning science, he consults in a variety of sports including basketball on movement mechanics and skill acquisition. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC) and analyzes the Lakers from a medical and skills medical perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.