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Lakers’ Walker Kessler makes immediate impact by being ‘relentless’

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Cite

Price, K. (2026, October 14). Lakers’ Walker Kessler makes immediate impact by being ‘relentless’. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/14/sports/lakers-walker-kessler-makes-impact-by-being-relentless/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-14 · by Khobi Price

Quick Summary

In his preseason debut for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas, Walker Kessler made a significant impact despite the team's loss. The 7-foot-2 center played for 16 minutes and recorded 11 points, nine rebounds (two offensive), one block, and one steal. Lakers coach JJ Redick emphasized Kessler’s need to be "relentless," which he showcased through his rebounding, rim protection, and ability to create open shots for teammates. Acquired in a sign-and-trade deal with the Utah Jazz, Kessler missed the first three preseason games due to an injured pinky finger but impressed with his defensive presence and offensive contributions during his short playing time.
Written by AI on 2026-10-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Walker Kessler, a 7-foot-2 center acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers in a sign-and-trade deal with the Utah Jazz in July, made his long-awaited preseason debut against the Golden State Warriors on October 14 in Las Vegas. Kessler had been sidelined due to a jammed left pinky finger but was cleared for action after progressing through practice drills over the weekend. In his first game back, Kessler played 16 minutes and recorded 11 points, nine rebounds (including two offensive boards), one block, and one steal in the Lakers' 101-89 loss to the Warriors. Coach JJ Redick emphasized Kessler's importance to the team's strategy, highlighting his relentless effort on both ends of the floor. The Lakers have another preseason game against the Denver Nuggets scheduled for October 20 before starting their regular season on October 21 against the Warriors in Los Angeles.

Written for “Lakers Preseason Games” on 2026-11-05, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Lakers Preseason Games
Sports · 4 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses Walker Kessler's potential to make his preseason debut, while Article B reports on his actual debut and performance.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 4 of 42 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different parts of Walker Kessler's journey with the Lakers, separated by days and focusing on distinct aspects.”
New York Post
Hedges 3 of 24 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 8 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 22 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different games involving Walker Kessler, one against the Warriors and another against the Nuggets.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 17168 article(s) · 36 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 36 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Khobi Price
66 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 His 1.072 points per minute entering the matchup against the Kings would be an all-time league record, besting Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 1.038 points per minute in 1961-62, if sustained for the season. “Just to be able to be in his presence and see how his mind works every day and what he’s thinking about … it sharpens his game but also sharpens people around him,” Carr said.
🔮 Luka Dončić, who had already scored 41 points by that point, had been out of the game for 45 seconds, with the Lakers and Redick believing the end-of-bench players would put the finishing touches on securing the victory.
🔮 The questions the Lakers had to face as they returned to Southern California after a one-game trip to the Bay Area revolved around how this new group would respond to early-season adversity.
🔮 The early-season success might’ve masked the reality of where the Lakers are at in their team-building journey.
🔮 Each week, the California Post will power rank the NBA’s 30 teams.
🔮 The game couldn’t have started better for the Lakers, who were fueled by a signature Luka Doncic scoring early scoring flurry Friday night in Chase Center.
🔮 The Lakers will be without one of their starting wings when they kick off NBA Cup Group Play action against the Warriors on Friday night at Chase Center.
🔮 It’s unlikely Doncic and Reaves will come even close to being the highest-scoring duo in a season.
🔮 When the Lakers would need to play or rely on players they normally don’t, for whatever the circumstances it may be for that given game. And against the Clippers, which was the second night of the back-to-back set after Tuesday’s home loss to the Trail Blazers, the circumstances were being without superstar guard Luka Doncic (back tightness) and Ziaire Williams (left foot soreness).
🔮 And he would’ve liked to return to the franchise.
Also by Khobi Price
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 66 articles by Khobi Price →

Topics

Jazz LAS VEGAS Lakers NBA Warriors

Subjects

Lakers ORG · 10× Kessler PERSON · 9× Warriors ORG · 4× Reaves PERSON · 3× Jazz ORG · 2× JJ Redick PERSON · 1× LAS VEGAS GPE · 1× NBA ORG · 1× Redick PERSON · 1× Walker Kessler PERSON · 1×

Narrative

The No. 22 pick in the 2022 draft made his presence felt in the Lakers’ first possession without recording a statistic in the box score. After Austin Reaves missed a pull-up 13-foot jumper out of the pick and roll with Kessler, the big man fought for the offensive rebound, with the ball bouncing off of Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg’s hands and going out of rebounds, resulting in a team offensive rebound for the Lakers. “JJ and I talked, and that’s kind of what we came up with this year: ‘Relentless,’ ” Kessler said.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-14
🔮 “That will come with time and just playing with the guys now that I’m cleared.
2026-10-14 · New York Post
Lakers’ Walker Kessler makes immediate impact by being ‘relentless’ · assertive framing

Claims (22 extracted, 0 hedged)

The Lakers got that in abundance during their marquee acquisition’s preseason debut, which came in a 101-89 loss to the Warriors on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena in the team’s penultimate exhibition. asserted
which → get → exhibition
The 7-foot-2 center finished with 11 points, nine rebounds (two offensive boards), one block and one steal in 16 first-half minutes before sitting out of the second half. asserted
center → finish → half
Kessler, who the Lakers acquired from the Jazz as part of a sign-and-trade with the Jazz that included a four-year, $130 million contract for the big man, missed the first three preseason games after injuring his left pinky finger. asserted
that → acquire → finger
“He’s a great fit for our team,” Redick said of Kessler. asserted
Redick → ’ → Kessler
“He did a nice job of running the floor, crashing, had some terrific rebounds in traffic [and] protected the rim. asserted
He → do → rim
“Overall really good for someone who didn’t play for, whatever it is, 10 days.” asserted
it → play → days
The Lakers won the 16 minutes he was on the floor by 15 points in what was Kessler’s first NBA game in nearly a full calendar year after he played just five regular season games in 2025-26 because of a season-ending left shoulder surgery. asserted
he → win → surgery
“It was a lot of fun being out there again,” Kessler said. asserted
Kessler → say → fun
But, getting out there and just playing with the guys, it was a blast.” asserted
it → get → guys
The No. 22 pick in the 2022 draft made his presence felt in the Lakers’ first possession without recording a statistic in the box score. After Austin Reaves missed a pull-up 13-foot jumper out of the pick and roll with Kessler, the big man fought for the offensive rebound, with the ball bouncing off of Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg’s hands and going out of rebounds, resulting in a team offensive rebound for the Lakers. “JJ and I talked, and that’s kind of what we came up with this year: ‘Relentless,’ ” Kessler said. asserted
Kessler → make → what
“And for me, that means just crashing every time, trying to be a presence in the paint, inside, outside, play hard, don’t take plays off, on the offensive end and defensive end. asserted
that → mean → end
That’s going to be my goal for this year.” asserted
That → go → year
After the Lakers inbounded the ball, Reaves ran another pick and roll with his new starting center, with the big man out of Auburn rolling hard to the basket and bringing in the Warriors low man (Gui Santos) into the paint, leading to Reaves making the drive-and-kick pass to Quentin Grimes for an open corner 3-pointer. asserted
Reaves → inbounde → pointer
The Lakers created several open looks from beyond the arc because of Kessler’s roll gravity. asserted
Lakers → create → gravity
“He created probably four or five really good looks for us from 3 just rolling hard,” Reaves said. asserted
Reaves → create → 3
“Nobody’s gonna give him credit for it, but him putting pressure on the rim and roll opportunities gonna make the big guy sink, and we’re gonna get wide open 3s. asserted
we → go → 3s
We had quite a bit of them. asserted
We → have → them
With one more preseason game on Friday against the Nuggets in Los Angeles, and one week before the Lakers open the regular season against the Warriors at Crypto.com Arena, Kessler is looking to build off Tuesday’s showing. asserted
Kessler → open → showing
“Just game feel, honestly,” he responded when asked what he’s looking to improve on. asserted
he → respond → what
“That will come with time and just playing with the guys now that I’m cleared. asserted
I → come → guys
Conditioning-wise, I actually felt good out there. asserted
I → feel → ?
First wind was a little tough, but after I got past that, my legs kind of got under me and I felt good.” asserted
I → get → me
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