FanPost

D'Angelo Russell's Mistreated Hollywood Life


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The Ohio State prodigy's Hollywood story comes to a swift end

When the Lakers got the 2nd pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, many expected the pick to be out of Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor. With Towns being taken first overall, all eyes were on the Lakers with this pick. With all the expectation leaning toward Jahlil Okafor, the NBA commissioner Adam Silver stepped to the stage and said these words: "With the second pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers select...D'Angelo Russell from the Ohio State University". Whoa. Shocker, even I was shocked. Being drafted before Jahlil Okafor was the start of the scrutinized life D'Angelo Russell was going to have in Los Angeles.

Very high expectations for D'Angelo Russell in his first summer league appearance with the Lakers, being a part of a nucleus that included Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr, and Tarik Black. However, Russell failed to impress with passive play and just a mellow approach. Upon preseason, Russell still failed to show he was worthy of the 2nd pick of the Draft with poor play and early minor injuries. But with like any young player, he was given a chance to prove he belonged. Early in the season, Russell and Julius Randle performed extremely low and was replaced with Lou Williams and Larry Nance Jr by the evil Byron Scott. This irritated both players as they both had to work back into the starting lineup. However, later in the season, Russell began showing big flashes of stardom. Seemingly taking over in the game and hitting the game tying shot (Which was extremely difficult by the way) vs the Minnesota Timberwolves while the soon retiring Kobe Bryant cheered on from the bench. However after his big performance, Scott took to the media to downgrade Russell's play. Then a few weeks later, Russell dropped a career high 27 points in a rally attempt against the Sacramento Kings while again, Kobe Bryant sat from the bench watching. Russell finished the game on a layup but unfortunately twisted his ankle. That's when Laker fans began to see his potential after he spewed the words "Y'all ain't seen nothing yet". After Russell returned from injury, Byron re-inserted him and Randle back into the lineup where Russell's game continue to grow. Then the memorable 39 points Ice in My Veins game against the Brooklyn Nets where the entire Lakers fanbase knew Russell had the star potential. Then, late in the season came the infamous prank-gone-wrong incident with Nick Young after Russell secretly recorded Young admitting to cheating on his fiancee Iggy Azalea and the video somehow gone viral. Russell's game took a tumble from there while many believed he was being ignored by his teammates which according to Kobe Bryant and Larry Nance Jr wasn't true at all but you could tell Russell was distracted. Everlasting hatred for Russell's incident flowed through like hot lava and was hated by almost the entire Lakers fan base while most forgave him as just a prank gone wrong and blamed Nick Young.

After Kobe Bryant retired, Russell looked to rekindle relationships with all of his teammates including Nick Young. His second summer league, this time with rookie Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac, showed that Russell had improved his game to a new level. It also showed that his relationship with teammates had never been severed. Nick Young even took to TMZ to say that he has forgave Russell for his incident and the two moved on, but the hatred for Russell still lingered. Then came Luke Walton, who Russell raved about tremendously. It appeared before the season started Russell and Walton shared that teacher mentor relationship where both would go back and forth complimenting each other. Walton even went on to compliment Russell's work ethic saying "He's always the first one to practice and the last one to leave."

In his second NBA season, Russell started the season off strong. Helping the Lakers to a 10-10 start which by standards compared to last season is a huge start. Then Russell dealt with knee soreness that kept him out for 2 weeks and then the whole team began to miss his presence. Upon returning, Russell clearly wasn't the same. He was shooting poorly, passing up alot of open shots, and was playing less minutes for precaution measures. Once Lou Williams was traded, Russell took his game again to another level. Adding in multiple 20 point games, even got his first two double digit assists games, then dropped 40 points against Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. Russell finished the season hitting a game winning shot on the day his grandmother passed away (which would be his last moment as a Laker)

Now jumping forward today. There is no more Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss, now the team is ran by Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka. The Lakers retain their second overall pick who everyone expects it to be Lonzo Ball to play along side D'Angelo Russell. Then, like the Woj Bomb it is, the news broke out that Magic has traded D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez and a draft pick. This was after multiple reports coming from reporters that the Lakers were looking to shop Russell (while at the same time saying that Magic and Rob were not looking to trade ANY of the young players) and that they were not pleased with Russell's maturity and professionalism. That part makes some sense because there were moments when Russell was on the bench, it did appear he was not pleased. However, towards the end of the season we witness a different Russell that looked like he was taking a turn for the better. Then the trade happened and Magic taking a somewhat low blow at Russell by saying "We want to thank D'Angelo for what he has done for us, but we need a leader". Hence the Lakers taking Lonzo Ball.

Russell now is the face of the Brooklyn Nets and with everything going to be going through him, I expect him to reach All-Star status very soon.