Ty Lawson used the lockout wisely, expanding his horizons and trimming his waistline. After arriving back in the United States from a fall stint playing for Zalgiris in Kaunas, Lithuania, the 5-foot-11 Lawson showed off the spring in his 185-pound frame — the lowest his weight has been since high school — with a vicious dunk in one-on-one drills over 6-9 Pops Mensah-Bonsu at Verizon Center last week.
“I think I’ve got my bounce back,” Lawson said. “I’m ready for training camp because I know [Denver Nuggets coach] George Karl is going to try to run us hard and get us back in shape. I’ll be ready for it.”
Recommended Stories
Lawson didn’t quite know what was in store overseas, including fewer minutes, fewer points (7.4 a game) and more criticism in a country where he couldn’t speak the language.
“It was weird playing 18 minutes, playing four minutes and then coming out and sitting for like 10 minutes and then going back in,” said Lawson, who lashed out on Twitter a few times. “People was arguing like, ‘You’re not playing like in the NBA,’ and I was like, ‘What you want me to do in eight minutes? I can’t average 20 and 10 in 18 minutes.’?”
But the 24-year-old Clinton native said he already missed his old teammates and has a newfound appreciation of the Lithuanian passion for the game.
“They have the most diehard fans,” Lawson said. “They love you when you’re winning, and when you lose, they still love you but just tell you what’s going on.”
– Craig Stouffer
