Working out for the #LakeShow today: Remy Martin
Remy Martin x @KUHoops pic.twitter.com/4rnX4iqLby
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) June 7, 2022
That whole LeBron James needs a Jayhawk on his roster to win an NBA title is getting quite the look this offseason, as the Los Angeles Lakers have worked out former Jayhawks David McCormack and Remy Martin in the past couple of weeks.
Neither player is likely to get drafted, but Kansas coach Bill Self recently said he believed McCormack, with a good showing and the right team, could play his way into a two-way contract.
Martin, who was the most recent of the two to workout with the Lakers, according to their social media accounts, is also probably looking at a ceiling of a two-way contract.
The one-year KU guard who was instrumental in helping Kansas claim the 2022 national title was not invited to either the G League Elite Camp or the NBA combine in back-to-back years. Generally, that’s an indicator of where — or if — pro teams see players fitting in at the NBA level. The fact that Martin was not invited does not bode well for his chances.
Still, it just takes one team to like a guy in order for him to have a chance and McCormack and Martin appear to be getting their looks.
For those who aren’t familiar with LeBron’s tie to the Jayhawks (I can’t imagine it’s many of you), all four of his NBA titles have come with a former Kansas player on the roster.
After winning his first two titles in Miami with former KU star Mario Chalmers, James acknowledged the Jayhawk connection during the celebration in Cleveland in 2016, when former KU big man Sasha Kaun was on the Cavs’ roster.
“Sasha, now a good friend of mine texted me the other day by the name of Mario Chalmers, and he said you know you can’t win a championship without a Jayhawk on your team,” James said in 2016. “I said, ‘Damn, you’re kind of right. I won two in Miami with you and I get another one here with Sasha being the ex-Jayhawk at Kansas.'”
The legend continued a couple of years later in the bubble, when LeBron and the Lakers won with former Jayhawk Markieff Morris in purple and gold.
Whether Martin or McCormack — or any other former Jayhawks — get the chance to join them remains to be seen.
The Lakers don’t have a pick in this year’s 58-player draft, which actually could increase the chances of them being inter-ested in landing a player or two on the undrafted, two-way path, which Martin and McCormack figure to be.
