Thomas Bryant’s forceful emergence has Lakers thinking of frontcourt

Russell Westbrook was one of the few people inside the building the day Thomas Bryant hit the floor in Washington, the sound of him slapping the court in frustration and his pained howls echoing in an otherwise empty arena during the pandemic.

It wasn’t a particularly impactful play — Bryant jumping in the air less than two minutes into a game with Miami on Jan. 9, 2021 — but the landing would change everything.

His ankle rolled, his knee, left to absorb all of the force from his body, buckled. He fell to the court and immediately grabbed his right knee.

His anterior cruciate ligament was torn, the 6-foot-10 center’s season over and the momentum he’d been building over the previous two seasons with the Wizards violently skidded to a stop.

Westbrook knew he had a job to do.

“I had to show him support, instill that the process starts the next day of changing your mindset to get ready for a comeback,” Westbrook said. “Regardless of what happened [to your knee], that’s over with. Yeah, you’re going to be pissed about it. But now, the process starts.”

Almost two years later, Bryant doesn’t believe any process has ended.

“I would say it would be just the start of it,” Bryant said after a recent win.

Forced to try to reclaim their season with Anthony Davis injured, the Lakers have turned to Bryant, and he’s responded with likely the best stretch of basketball of his career.

In 13 starts since Davis exited the lineup because of foot injuries, Bryant is averaging 16.9 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 64.5% from the field.

The return to this level of effectiveness is, at least in a small part, because of Bryant’s…