Adjusting to life as an NBA rookie isn't easy. Teenagers are suddenly given more money and free time than they've ever had in their lives, all while being under more close scrutiny than ever. All of this can lead to major pitfalls for young players.
Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell found this out the hard way last year when video from his private Snapchat account of teammate Nick Young admitting to infidelity became public. The incident led to tension in the locker room with his teammates, as well as Russell being extensively booed at the Lakers' next home game (until he hit a few big shots at least).
Russell appears to be trying to move past the incident as best he can. In a new foot locker commercial featuring Devin Booker, Russell, and his best friend Karl-Anthony Towns giving advice about the league to likely first overall draft pick Ben Simmons, the Lakers point guard had a little fun at his own expense:
That was hilarious, but we at Silver Screen and Roll have dug up some outtakes of alternate advice from Russell that didn't make the commercial exclusively for our readers:
Solid advice Russell heard plenty of there, and he also had one more piece of wisdom for Simmons from his year under Byron Scott:
And finally, Russell channeled his inner Mamba in this advice for Simmons.
Okay, I can see why they didn't go with that one. That would've been blatant copyright infringement.
Update: Nick Young is not a fan of the commercial:
Real funny
— Nick Young (@NickSwagyPYoung) June 21, 2016
Here is a screengrab in case he deletes the tweet:
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