WATCH: Former South Carolina star AJ Lawson has hot start to NBA Summer League
This summer has been a hot one, and so was former South Carolina Gamecock AJ Lawson in the Dallas Mavericks first game of the NBA Summer League on Friday. The Mavericks took on the Chicago Bulls to officially tip off their NBA Summer League action and fell in a close one, 100-99. Despite coming up short, the former 2019 SEC All-freshman team recipient still put on a show along with rookie guard Jaden Hardy.
Lawson had 28 points, five rebounds, and one assist for the Mavericks. He put up big numbers scoring, shooting better than 62% from the field, making ten of his 16 field goal attempts. But the majority of his makes came from long range as the six-foot-six wing was six of 11 from downtown. Not to be outdone, his teammate Hardy added 28 points, four rebounds, and three assists. However, Hardy’s 28 points came off of a less efficient shooting percentage as he went nine of 19 from the field and two of seven from deep. But the rookie did go 8 of 11 from the charity stripe.
You can check out all the highlights from Lawson Performance today in the video below.
Lawson originally entered the 2021 NBA draft after completing his junior season at South Carolina. In his final year with the Gamecocks, he averaged 16.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. Despite the solid showing and being named to the SEC all-second-team Lawson went undrafted in 2021. During the summer league that year, he played for the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks and ended up signing with Atlanta in late September. But he was waived by the Hawks in early October and did not play in the NBA during the 2021-2022 season. Lawson spent last season out of the NBA, but after the performance he put on on Friday, he might prove worthy of a roster spot this season.