Official: The Lakers have signed G League guard Kobe Buffkin to a 10-day contract.
2026-01-14 04:03
The Los Angeles Lakers officially announced on Tuesday that they have signed Kobe Bryant to a 10-day contract. The news was first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania and subsequently confirmed by the Lakers.
According to the official statement, Buffkin will wear jersey number 18 for the Lakers. He can play a maximum of six regular season games for the Lakers, including today's home game against his former team, the Hawks.
22-year-old Bufkin is a 6'6" (1.93m) and 88kg (4.5kg) guard who was selected 15th overall in the first round of the 2023 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks. Hampered by injuries, he only played 27 regular-season games in his two seasons with the Hawks, averaging 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 11.9 minutes per game, with a 37.4% field goal percentage and a 22.0% three-point percentage.
In September 2025, Buffkin was traded from the Hawks to the Brooklyn Nets. After being waived on October 18, he joined the South Bay Lakers, where he has played a total of 7 G League games so far, averaging 28.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.7 blocks in 37.3 minutes per game, with a field goal percentage of 54.0% and a three-point percentage of 39.0%.
Buffkin signed a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies last November through the injury exception, but did not get any playing time. Over the next 10 days, he will share rotation duties with guards such as Nick Smith Jr., and provide the team with much-needed outside shooting ability since Austin Reeves' injury.
