Congratulations! The Lakers 26-year-old defensive ace is resurrected in full health: Another skill evolution helps James Doncic win the championship

In the Lakers' training camp, 26-year-old defensive champion Vanderbilt became a highlight and he completely recovered his health. After several years of injury, Vanderbilt was finally able to train and compete without any restrictions. Vanderbilt has a complete summer polishing his ball skills. In the summer of 2025, Vanderbilt's polishing focus was on three-pointers. He looks forward to becoming a real 3D player.

Vanderbilt's defense has been praised by coach Redick. "His body shape and technical movements have improved significantly, which is a huge difference compared to before. He looks like he was before he was injured. Last season, because his body was not in his best condition, I had to put him in the fifth position of the small lineup. In the new season, he will restore his athleticism and agility and return to the position of leading and defending people on the outside." Redick said.

Vanderbilt will return to his most familiar role, playing the team's outside defensive engineer, and defending the opponent's number one scorer on the outside, mainly a defensive wing-scoring master. This is the role Van Debiao is best at before being injured. Van Debiao can play multiple positions on the court, but his favorite is the small forward or power forward.

Vanderbilt practiced three-pointers this summer. After coming to the Lakers, three-pointers have never been Vanderbilt's strength, but he believes that his efforts in the summer will pay off and that he is on the outside, especially the bottom corner, will pose a threat.

"My three-pointers have really improved over the years...I've done a lot of training this summer. I'm not doing rehabilitation, I'm just training normally, obviously, we have a lot of good organizational cores on our team, so there are a lot of bottom corner shots and other 3-point shots. It's very important for me to be ready to shoot and hit those shots. To be honest, I've been able to do these trainings all summer. It means a lot to me," Vanderbilt said.

In the previous summers, Vanderbilt had to spend a long time doing rehabilitation training. And this summer, Vanderbilt devoted himself to polishing his ball skills.

Due to injury last season, Vanderbilt played only 36 games, averaging 4.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1 steal, with a shooting percentage of 48.8%, a three-point shooting percentage of 28.1%, and a free throw shooting percentage of 55.6%.

Vanderbilt's career three-point shooting percentage was 28.8%, and in the two and a half seasons that he played with the Lakers, Vanderbilt's three-point shooting percentage was 29.3%. It can be said that Van Debiao's three-pointer does need to be upgraded. And this summer's hard practice may have really evolved his three-point skill.