Lakers’ Nick Young a showman to the end

The season ended, but Nick Young’s one-man show kept rolling.

The always entertaining Lakers reserve excitedly told reporters about his new contract a few minutes after a season-ending meeting Thursday with Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

“He said he was going to sign me for $100 million or something like that. Hopefully, he wasn’t lying,” Young said.

Young was joking, of course.

But after leading the Lakers in scoring, he will decline a player option for $1.2 million next season and become a free agent in July. He won’t make $100 million but might get closer to the average NBA salary of $5.5 million.

The Lakers like him and his personality, other than the one that sometimes hoists bad shots from anywhere on the court.

Kupchak tried to persuade Young to not decline his player option.

“He threw that in. He said it would be better if you just opt in,” Young said, smiling, adding a “have your people call my people” line for posterity.

Young got more serious when asked about the job done by Coach Mike D’Antoni this season.

“It’s a shame how he’s been getting beat up all year,” Young said. “Mike is a solider. He dealt with the boos. Any time you come in over Phil Jackson, it’s going to be a tough situation. He came in with a smile every day... .”

Young said the highlight of his season was getting ejected in a January game against Phoenix, which included him calling out teammates for not backing him up in a scuffle. He was suspended by the NBA for a game and lost about $10,000 in salary for shoving Phoenix center Alex Len that night.

“I lost a lot of money, more than ever this year,” Young said. “But I think I enjoyed it.”

He had one more thing for reporters before he left the interview area.

“I hope you all enjoyed ‘Swaggy P’ this year,” he said.

ALSO:

Jordan Hill is just one of the Lakers’ many free agents

Kobe Bryant takes off for France before Lakers season ends

Chris Kaman acknowledges frustration with Coach Mike D’Antoni