VIDEO: Lakers practice invaded by bats, D’Angelo Russell asks ‘where’s Ginobili when you need him?’

From his left-handedness to the craftiness with which he plays, there are several aesthetic similarities between Los Angeles Lakers’ guard D’Angelo Russell and San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili. Russell spoke earlier this year about how Ginobili was one of his favorite players growing up and how he had modeled his game after the Argentinian sixth man, but during the Lakers’ practice on Wednesday he was wishing for one of Ginobili’s non-basketball related skills.

Russell posted a video to his Instagram account of his workout at what appears to be the AT&T center in San Antonio being interrupted by bats on Wednesday, making reference to Ginobili’s legendary bat-smacking antics when exclaiming “where’s Ginobili when you need him?” as he recorded the nocturnal mammals (possible vampires in disguise?) flying around the court.

Does the AT&T center just attract bats, or are these some pre-game mindgames from Gregg Popovich? We’ll never know, but the whole video is hilarious:

On the plus side, if the bats were vampires, then Russell and Julius Randle might have superpowers now. That would be a huge development, and instantly vaunt them forward as the most promising young core in the NBA.

Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.