D’Angelo Russell is evolving in front of our eyes

Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell has always been supremely talented, from his days at Monteverde High School to Ohio State University to when he first stepped out onto the court in Summer League for the Lakers.

However, although he’s certainly progressed in terms of his production, there have always been question marks about just how high that ceiling can go; questions that only increased after his playoff struggles prior to last season. They reached a deafening roar after he was essentially played off the court vs the Denver Nuggets last season as they attacked him relentlessly on the defensive end.

The offseason, starting from his exit interview to his play in pre-season to interviews from himself and others, hints at a player who understands what it takes to take that next step, for himself and for his teammates.

I discussed in the following video:

Of course, the pre-season and interviews don’t always translate into the regular season and onwards. However, these indicators are certainly positive and hint at a player in Russell who finally understands what it takes on and off the court to become that championship-level contributor.

Only time will tell if that holds true but he’s off to a great start thus far.

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training. Prior to entering into the physiotherapy field, Brar graduated from Cal-Berkeley in Business Administration and spent multiple years in the corporate marketing and strategy field, culminating in managing his own business unit in New York City and being a direct liaison for client management.

Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), has a background in youth basketball coaching and analyzes the Lakers from a medical, skills, and leadership/organizational culture perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.