When D’Angelo Russell went to the Los Angeles Lakers I, like most of you, thought he would break out immediately and battle for Rookie of the Year.
But then that breakout didn’t happen and we then slapped our foreheads going “oh wait! They’re the Lakers, of course D’Angelo won’t grow substantially.”
Come to now and we are now starting to see growth. After months of battling with the coach, having his growth put to the side because of Kobe Bryant’s farewell tour, D’Angelo now feels comfortable and feels like the leash he had on beforehand is now off.
He has been pulled from several games for what seemed to be minor mistakes common among young players, particularly point guards with gifted court vision. He often has spent the fourth quarter on the bench or been taken out when some games were close late. And, in one instance, he was benched for “trying to take over a game,” as Lakers coach Byron Scott later explained.
“It’s cool because I know I’m going to be on the floor no matter what, so it’s up to me to take advantage of it,” Russell said.
Indeed, he’s starting to feel like his old self again.
“Yeah, I feel like they drafted me because I had a great opportunity in college,” Russell said, “and I took advantage of it and then came here, and I didn’t have that opportunity. I had to work for it and start from scratch.
“I feel like every game now, since I’ve been starting, I just want to develop that aspect that Coach is like, ‘He’s going to give us something.’ It’s cool.“
I think we all agree that we would love to see Ohio State D’Angelo Russell. The dazzling playmaker that inserted himself as one of the best prospects. Honestly I was (and still am) looking forward to the prospect of watching Emmanuel Mudiay and D’Angelo Russell battle it out over their careers to see who was the best guard of that respective Draft.
At this point they’re both pretty raggedy, especially Mudiay from an advanced analytics standpoint. But I’m sure once the Lakers grow, D’Angelo will get better.
