Rick Barnes is in attendance for Dalton Knecht's first career NBA start

Dalton Knecht and the Los Angeles Lakers traveled to Memphis on Wednesday night to play the Grizzlies in a Western Conference matchup. The Lakers announced that Knecht would make his first career start on Wednesday afternoon.

With Knecht's return to the Volunteer State, where he rose to national status at Tennessee, he will begin his first career in the NBA with his former coach sitting on the sidelines.

Avery Braxton of ABC24 Memphis reported that Rick Barnes accompanied Knecht to his first career start at FedEx Forum, home of the Grizzlies.

He is on the starting line-up alongside well-known names in Los Angeles. He starts alongside LeBron James, D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Jaxson Hayes.

Knecht was a burst of energy in the Lakers' offense early in the season. He didn't put up crazy numbers but was a consistent force for the Lakers. Knecht is averaging 7.3 points per game in his young NBA career while shooting 47.4% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range.

Based on +/- stats, he has been one of the best performing rookies in the organization so far. Knecht ranks fourth among rookies with a points lead of +8. The only players ahead of him are Ajay Mitchell of Oklahoma City (+22), Jonathan Mogbo of Toronto (+17) and Ryan Dunn of Phoenix (+13).

Prior to Wednesday night's games, Knecht also scored the fourth-most points of any rookie this season with 18 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on October 30. The rookies who have scored more points than Knecht so far are Zach Edey, with 25, and Kyshawn George, with 20, and Jared McCain, with 19.

The Lakers went into halftime trailing the Grizzlies 53-59. Knecht's shooting performance wasn't particularly good in the first half, so he only went 1-for-4 from the field with three points.