Ivica Zubac said the Los Angeles Lakers “should be ashamed” after their 129-101 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday. It was indeed an embarrassing defensive effort for the Lakers, but Zubac made many members of the organization proud. Thrown into the starting lineup as Los Angeles looks toward the future, the center had a career-high 25 points on 12-for-15 shooting with 11 rebounds and a block in Denver.

Zubac showed off range on his jumper and touch on his hook shot. He competed with Mason Plumlee and Nikola Jokic on the inside. He set solid screens to get shooters open. He then insisted that none of it mattered.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Zubac said, via Mark Medina of the Orange County Register. “Nobody cares. I would rather score five and win a game, have the team win, than score 25 and be blown out by 30.”

That’s the right attitude, but Los Angeles fans would probably rather lose. The Lakers don’t want to give up their draft pick, which is only protected if it falls in the top 3, so having their promising young center look great in a loss is just about the ideal scenario.

On some level, every Laker understands what is going on here. The players want to win, sure, but they also know that the front office is evaluating them based on how they’ll fit as it builds for the future. Zubac spent most of the first half of his season in the NBA D-League, so the rest of the season is about proving that he belongs. His recent performances indicate that he does.

“I want to play as much as I can and play as hard as I can,” Zubac said. “I want to get experience and get ready for next season, to earn my role for the next season and try to grow with the young guys. It’s going to be good to get some playing time with the starting five for the rest of the season. I’ll try to make the most of my minutes.”