Kendall Marshall Guarantees Lakers Win over Clippers on Friday Night

The Los Angeles Lakers' Kendall Marshall definitely understands the value of confidence.

It probably served him well during the dark times after he washed out with the Phoenix Suns, and his self-assured nature is now adding spice to a flagging rivalry with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reported that Marshall guaranteed a win in L.A.'s Jan. 10 tilt with the Clippers. Don't worry, Marshall's boastfulness has an explanation: He was only taking good-natured shots at former North Carolina teammate and current Clipper Reggie Bullock.

Per Medina, Marshall said: "I’ve already guaranteed a win to him. I also told [Bullock] that if he ever guards me, I might go for 30 [points]."

Clearly, Marshall isn't making one of those dead-serious, Joe Namath-esque guarantees here. He's just ribbing his buddy.

Still, though, it's probably not a great idea to give the Clips any extra motivation—especially considering the distance separating the two teams' talent levels and win-loss records. Despite Marshall's best efforts as the new point guard savior, the Lakers have lost nine of their past 10 games.

Meanwhile, the Clips have won two out of three since Chris Paul went down with a shoulder injury and now occupy a full 10-game lead on the Lakers in the Western Conference standings.

Maybe Marshall deserves a break here. Maybe his enthusiasm is justified. After all, he's playing major minutes for a marquee franchise (albeit a beleaguered one at the moment) after losing his place in the NBA.

He's averaging 11.5 assists per game over his last four contests, and there's nobody on the bench likely to remove him from his starting role for a while.

So, good for Marshall. He's young, he's got a job he probably never thought he'd get and he's enjoying the moment.

The Clippers will wake him up on Jan. 10, but let's allow him to keep dreaming until then.