DENVER — Jake LaRavia had a guru on the bench.
Then a second-year Memphis Grizzlies forward, he listened closely to Marcus Smart – who had been voted the NBA Defensive Player of the Year two years earlier – as he tried to gain his footing in the league. LaRavia’s steals-per-game numbers, and his minutes, more than doubled as the Grizzlies in the bottom three of the Western Conference in 2023-2024. Smart, who played in just 25 games for the Grizzlies because of a foot sprain and a partial tear in his finger, spoke to his then-21-year-old teammate, sharing what he could to help LaRavia’s development.
Those lessons, LaRavia said, have turned into tangible aspects of his personal current skillset.
“(Smart) taught me a lot about my positioning,” LaRavia told the Southern California News Group on Thursday in Denver. “When he wasn’t playing and I was playing, it was good, because he was just able to kind of teach me more about defensive positioning, hands, deflections, the best time to get steals, stuff like that.”
Fast forward two years later, and Smart, LaRavia and trade-deadline acquisition Luke Kennard round out the Grizzlies-turned-Lakers on the 2025-26 roster. On Sunday, Lakers coach JJ Redick praised LaRavia, who has a steal in each of his last four games.
“We knew that he would be disruptive in terms of steals and deflections,” Redick said. “He’s been really good in terms of his physicality. And in terms of executing what we want, particularly off-ball, we talk about grabbing and holding all the time. He’s been really physical with that. He’s done, for the vast majority of the season, everything we’ve asked of him in terms of what his responsibilities are.”
On Tuesday, after the Lakers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, thanks in part to a defensive stand spurred by Smart (four steals, three blocked shots) – Redick spoke about how Smart’s defensive tenacity leads to runs and forces opponents to call timeouts.
“He has starred in his role for what we need from him consistently throughout the year,” Redick said of Smart. “He’s, I think, played great basketball for the last five, six weeks, and that starts at the defensive end.”
Redick, back on Feb. 20 before the team’s first game following the All-Star break, said that whether it’s LaRavia or Smart on the court to begin a game in the starting lineup, the defensive profiles of each player help to organize which of his players will take the tougher defensive assignment. Smart, over his last 10 games, leads the Lakers in steals (1.9 per game), while ranking second to backup center Jaxson Hayes with a plus-minus of 6.6.
It’s no surprise to LaRavia to see what Smart is providing the Lakers as the postseason approaches.
“He just brings energy every night,” LaRavia said. “The hustle plays, like when he dives on the ball, when he gets those 50/50 balls, when he gets steals, when he gets stops. Like he just brings so much energy and tenacity to the defensive side, so we kind of all just rally behind him.”
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