D'Angelo Russell watched fellow rookie Anthony Brown play with D-Fenders

The Los Angeles Lakers' D-League affiliate team, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, play their games in the Lakers' practice facility in El Segundo. From a practical standpoint this makes it easier for the front office to monitor the team in person, as well as shuttle players back-and-forth from the D-Fenders to the parent club.

The Lakers recently sent Anthony Brown down to play a couple of games with the D-Fenders before returning to the Lakers when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night. Brown was mostly good in his couple of games with the affiliate squad, as our own Ben Rosales broke down here. The 34th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft scored 14 points on 5-13 shooting in the D-Fenders most recent contest, a 113-111 win over the Reno Bighorns, and in attendance to support him were his Lakers' teammate and fellow rookie D'Angelo Russell as well as Lakers assistant coach Thomas Scott:

.@Dloading & assistant coach Thomas Scott are in the house to see @TwoShotOne take the floor with the @DFenders pic.twitter.com/HK3vFcFyjT

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 22, 2015

Part of being a point guard at the NBA level is leadership, both on the court and off of it. As the player who most often handles the ball and is generally responsible for how many shots everyone is getting, it is the nature of the position. Russell has shown increasing confidence running the Lakers' offense in recent games, and it is good to see him building relationships and team chemistry off of the floor as well.