Lakers’ Ryan Kelly hopes off-season MMA training helps on the court

Ryan Kelly knows he’s tall and thin. And basketball can be a contact sport.

So on the advice of his trainer, he underwent some mixed martial arts training during the off-season.

He said it was fun. There were no KOs, though. That might be a good thing.

“I’m just glad I didn’t get knocked out,” Kelly said. “I didn’t crush anybody. If you saw the videos, I don’t think those punches would knock anybody out.”

Kelly said it with a smile Tuesday, a good day for him. He will return to action tonight against Phoenix after missing a month because of two hamstring injuries.

The Lakers need his outside touch. Badly. He averaged a three-pointer a game after the All-Star break last season, a good number for a power forward, and the Lakers are currently near the NBA’s bottom with only 4.5 three-pointers made per game.

He signed a two-year, $3.4-million deal to stay with the Lakers. But his debut this season was put on hold.

He was injured early in training camp with the first strained hamstring and then sustained a strain in the other one.

“It’s been really tough to sit and watch,” he said. “It’s frustrating because you’re dealing with a new [coaching] staff, new teammates. You want to prove to everybody that you’re worth throwing out there and can be productive. My timetable’s a little different, but I’ll prove it.”

He’s also hoping the MMA training helps him absorb contact better down low.

“I just tried to mix it up a little bit,” he said. “I don’t know that the MMA is specifically going to make that big of a difference ... I wanted to continue to work on my body and be able to take those hits. I guess we’ll find out.”