Spencer happy to be ‘home’ with Lakers

For Spencer Dinwiddie, signing with the Lakers offered a homecoming — and a challenge.

The guard, a Los Angeles native, joins the Lakers for the NBA stretch run after the Nets traded him last week to the Raptors, who then waived him.

“You’re seeing a team that, when everything’s on the line, they can rise to a level that no other team can get to,” Dinwiddie said of the Lakers. “They won the in-season tournament, have played big-time basketball the past several years. Obviously, sometimes it’s hard to maintain that throughout a whole season, but at the end of the day, they know how to win.”

Dinwiddie had returned last February for his second stint with the Nets through the blockbuster trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Dallas. Dinwiddie started each of his 48 appearances with the Nets this season, averaging 12.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game but shooting only 39.1% from the field.

The 30-year-old Dinwiddie’s long-term role with the Nets came into question after the team began the season with oft-injured three-time All-Star Ben Simmons as the primary point guard. The early season emergence of 22-year-old Cam Thomas as the go-to scorer at shooting guard further complicated Dinwiddie’s future.

Now, Dinwiddie hopes to give a midseason boost to a LeBron James-led Lakers team that, at 28-26 entering Tuesday, has underachieved following last year’s run to the Western Conference Finals.

The Mavericks (31-23) also showed interest in signing Dinwiddie after he was waived by the Raptors.

“Let’s say you were a kid and you got your a– whupped by the bully,” Dinwiddie said. “Dallas would’ve been like your momma being like, ‘It’s OK, baby. Don’t worry about it.’ Lakers are like your dad. ‘Nah, you better go out there and fight until you win.’ … I just felt like that was what I needed at the time.”