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We may never know for sure how good or bad D’Angelo Russell’s relationship with Byron Scott was. Things were weird between the second overall pick and the former Los Angeles Lakers head coach to be certain, but Russell has never said anything bad about Scott outright.
What he has done this summer is (maybe) put on a master class in subtweeting, whether actually on Twitter or not. There was him tweeting about the Lakers new coaching staff being “special,” or the time he retweeted an article talking about him as a candidate for Most Improved Player that asked if his rookie season would be most remembered for “the constant verbal beatdowns he got from ex-Lakers coach Byron Scott, who seemed intent on running a season long hazing ritual for his rookie point guard.”
While Russell hasn’t criticized the last coaching staff off of Twitter, either, he certainly hasn’t been shy in sharing how much he enjoys playing for the new one (via Serena Winters of Lakers Nation):
“He’s one of the best people I know, as far as off the court,” Russell said of his new head coach on Wednesday. “We communicate on and off the court as much as possible. I feel like I can call him anytime. He’s not like a head coach that will sit back and just watch his other coaches and colleagues just train other players, he’s always involved.
He’ll get out there and play with you if he wants. It’s just great to have a young coach like him in the building.”
So great, in fact, that Russell decided to give that young coach a standing ovation before an approximately one minute long speech:
D'Angelo Russell gave Luke Walton a standing ovation when he was introduced to speak at Lakers/UCLA Health naming-rights news conference.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) August 31, 2016
Maybe this is all way off. Maybe we’re connecting too many dots. Or maybe, just maybe, D’Angelo Russell is already more talented at throwing shade then a skyscraper with the sun directly behind it.
You can follow this author on Twitter at @hmfaigen.