While Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott has spent most of the young season ripping into his team, he suddenly had a change of heart. In an interview with Bill Oram of the OC Register, Scott defended his rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell who has been the subject of plenty of criticism:
Even I sit back at times and say, ‘Wait a minute guys, he’s 19. We got to cut him some slack, this is all new to him.’ But fans and people they don’t understand that. He really wants to be great. He really does. He wants to work, he wants to find out where guys like the ball. Magic [Johnson] was the same way, as far as he hits you with one pass and pretty much figures out, ‘Oh, OK, I know where you like it now.’ That’s just how good he was.
Russell has been under a microscope ever since he was drafted above Jahlil Okafor by the Lakers. Since then, Russell has struggled somewhat to adjust to the NBA, while occasionally showing flashes of his immense potential. As a result, plenty of criticism has been directed at the 19 year old. Meanwhile, Scott has maintained an attitude of forcing Russell to observe from the bench while playing veterans ahead of him. Scott’s understanding that the criticism is not necessarily justified is encouraging, but his stubbornness in not giving Russell the minutes he needs to succeed achieves the opposite of what Scott mentions.
Another quote of note from this interview includes Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. According to Scott, Bryant has taken to mentoring Russell in order to help him succeed, including sitting and watching film with the rookie for an hour before the team’s shootaround. Said Scott:
He knows that he has to pass the torch one of these days and he knows one of his biggest advantages to a lot of these guys is experience and giving them any bits and pieces that he can is going to be a gigantic help to them.
This is another encouraging sign as Russell could conceivably learn a lot from the 20 year veteran. Of course, we will not know how much he has learned if Scott continues to stray away from playing the rookie.
Byron: The best way to learn is by playing in games but he isn’t afraid to cut mins. “That wood has a good way of talking to your butt.“
— Bill Oram (@billoram) November 6, 2015
