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Lakers sign David Nwaba for the rest of the season

Guard David Nwaba's "focus and determination, especially on defense," have impressed the Lakers, the club's general manager says.
Guard David Nwaba’s “focus and determination, especially on defense,” have impressed the Lakers, the club’s general manager says.
(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
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David Nwaba will be with the Lakers for at least the rest of the season.

After two 10-day contracts, the Lakers signed Nwaba through this campaign and have a team option to retain him for another year.

“We have been impressed by David’s focus and determination, especially on defense,” Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka said in a statement. “He has a mentality about him that is infectious, and he works hard every day to improve himself. He has brought energy to both our Lakers and D-Fenders games, and has certainly earned his spot on the roster.”

Nwaba is a Los Angeles native, a graduate of University High and the first NBA player from Cal Poly. He spent most of the season playing for the Lakers’ Development League affiliate, the D-Fenders, who signed him after a tryout last summer.

In the 10 games in which Nwaba played before Tuesday night’s 133-109 loss to the Clippers, he totaled 36 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks while averaging 14.4 minutes per game. He started twice at shooting guard this season.

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For Lakers Coach Luke Walton, Nwaba’s presence helps facilitate some of the qualities he’d like to see in the rest of his team.

“He gives us a toughness that we definitely need,” Walton said. “He gives us a defensive mind-set that we definitely need. It’s nice to be able to preach something all day in practice and then have a young guy that’s hungry, whether he plays at all in the first three quarters, when he steps on the court he’s ready to compete.”

Fight in name only

Luol Deng’s experience with playground fighting goes back to his childhood. He remembers fights in schools as part of daily life when he was a refugee in Egypt.

“Whether it was because we’re Christians or we’re black,” Deng said. “It was literally every day in school. Almost every day you have to deal with something.”

Deng had backup in the form of his brothers. He recalls his older brothers, who he says knew how to fight, setting a tone so that eventually few wanted to tangle with anyone in the family.

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While Deng’s story is unique, he knows many NBA players have real-world experience with fights that are nothing like the controlled nature of what happens during league games. There, the word “fight” is used loosely.

When tempers flare, there’s pushing and shoving but rarely do fights escalate beyond that. The Lakers’ game Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks included only shoving, and three players were ejected. On Tuesday night, Toronto’s Serge Ibaka and Chicago’s Robin Lopez threw punches at each other and were ejected, but neither landed a blow.

“The NBA obviously is different,” said Deng, one of the few Lakers veterans older than 30. “We’re doing something professional. We get fined for certain words we say. It’s under control. But a lot of guys in the NBA, they know what real [fighting] is. It’s almost a confrontation. At the end of the day, I don’t think a lot of guys will take it off the court. It’s stupid to let words here and there affect you that much. You might not like the guy ever again, but there’s more serious things than that.”

Lineup uncertainty

Walton said before the game that he is unsure whether he will make any more changes to his starting lineup this season.

He did say it was unlikely he would see enough of D’Angelo Russell at shooting guard and Jordan Clarkson at point guard to fully evaluate them in those roles by the end of the season.

Walton also said it’s possible Larry Nance Jr. will start at some point this season. Nance is the only player who has been with the Lakers all season who has not started a game.

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tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli

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