Walker Kessler’s Lakers debut couldn’t have gone much better

He spent the offseason admiring the great Lakers centers that came before him. He pondered how he could possibly continue such a legacy.

Turns out, Walker Kessler makes it look easy.

The new Lakers center scored 26 points on 12-for-12 shooting with nine rebounds, one assist and two blocks in his purple and gold debut to help the Lakers (1-0) to a dominant 125-105 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.

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From admiring Lakers legends, Kessler can now be mentioned in the same breath. His 12 made field goals without a miss were the most by a Laker since Wilt Chamberlain in 1969. His 10 dunks are the most for a Laker since Shaquille O’Neal in 2003.

O’Neal, for one, welcomes the company.

“Walker Kessler is the best big man in the NBA,” O’Neal proclaimed on “Inside the NBA” after the game where he also christened Kessler “Milk Chamberlain” and officially dubbed him a member of the “Big Man Alliance.” “You heard it here. And I’m not playing.”

Kessler deflected his success, crediting the play of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. The dynamic guards who scored 28 and 23 points, respectively, combined for 13 assists. Doncic connected with Kessler on an alley-oop on the game’s first play. He hit him with a behind-the-back pass wrapped around Draymond Green. He looked for Kessler even when the center wasn’t looking back. Kessler admitted one lob went down as just a layup because he didn’t see the pass in time.

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“It’s not what I saw,” Kessler said of his sizzling debut. “It’s what Luka and AR [Austin Reaves] and all the other guys saw, throwing me the ball, honestly. Again, I wish I could tell you it was [that] I did something crazy, but I think just being in the right spots and being vertical and just trying to dunk everything. That’s really the biggest thing is having the attitude and mentality to try to dunk everything.”

Doncic, who had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, understood it was more than just Kessler being 7-foot-2. He praised the center for his activity and how he reacted to the game. When Doncic drove, Kessler knew to step up. When the star point guard got…

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Publish date : 2026-10-22 07:54:00

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