One year ago, Max Christie was sitting on the bench as the Lakers in the wake of the Lakers’ In-Season Tournament title.

In what would become the longest stretch of the season where he did not get on the court, Christie played just twice in a seven-game span across the end of December last season, with one of those appearances being in garbage time.

Fast forward to Sunday and Christie, after overcoming a very slow start to the season, started alongside the Lakers’ core four of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura, and Austin Reaves. Not only did he start, though, but he also significantly impacted winning, taking on the challenge of defending Ja Morant.

According to the NBA’s matchup data, Morant shot just 2-11 when defended by Christie. Christie has shown flashes of his defense before, perhaps most notably against Donovan Mitchell last season, but Sunday was perhaps his best showing yet. The Lakers picked up their best win of the season over Memphis and Christie was at the center of it.

It was encouraging a game as perhaps there has been for Christie, who is still just 21 years old despite being in his third season in the NBA. The Lakers clearly view him as part of the future and Sunday showed why.

In fact, it’s with an outlook toward the future that head coach JJ Redick made the call to keep Christie in the starting lineup. After effectively hinting before the game that Christie would be starting, Redick discussed the decision after the game and acknowledged that this was not just about the present, but what is to come as well.

“I think the size and just the athleticism and the fact that Max has a really good feel for the game and he can move was important,” Redick said. “Then just in terms of his long-term outlook and his growth, I think these opportunities are great for him. I’ll reference the Oklahoma City game where he made a mistake at the end and we play a week later in Atlanta and he’s in the sort of the same situation at the end of regulation and he gets a block on Trae Young.

“With young guys, these opportunities are great for them to grow not only in confidence but also just the learned experience and the learned knowledge of being in different situations.”

How encouraging is that to hear from a head coach? Last season was a frustrating one for Christie as it never felt he was given a fair chance in the rotation despite injuries. Once it came winning time late in the season and despite several players underperforming, Christie was glued to the bench as the Lakers were bounced out of the first round.

That at least played somewhat of a part in the team parting ways with Darvin Ham and Christie was one of the players repeatedly mentioned as part of the future of the team during the search for a new head coach.

Now, given the chance to fail, learn from it and come back stronger, Christie excelled again.

“It feels good and it’s pretty cool just to see the progression and the growth in terms of just me over the last three years, to be honest,” Christie said. “And I think I’ve slowly gotten a little bit better. I’ve been put in more tense situations, more important situations and I think these are good experiences for me, guarding a dynamic player like Ja at the end of the game. I think it’s cool for me just to kind of reflect on the growth that I’ve had and then I want to keep that going.”

Progress is not linear and there will be bumps in the road still for Christie. But what is encouraging about this situation is having someone in charge who is looking forward.

Redick is speaking and acting like a coach who will be around for years to come. He wants a player like Christie to be a big part of his and the franchise’s future.

For many reasons, then, Sunday was as encouraging a performance as he has had in his brief NBA career.