Things haven’t always run smoothly at the Lakers for D’Angelo Russell and for most of his tenure has been looking over his shoulder.
Last season, Russell was benched during the postseason in favor of Dennis Schroder.
Since Schroder has left the team, Russell has been able to find his groove and is having a completely different in 2023-24.
“His relationship with Darvin [Ham] is the reason I couldn’t have a relationship with Darvin,” Russell said of Schroder, via ESPN. “When I was struggling, I would’ve been able to come to the coach and say, ‘Bro, this is what we should do. Like, I can help you.’ Instead, there was no dialogue. … I just accepted it. And we got swept and I’m here and he’s not. And I like our chances.”
Despite his name constantly being mentioned in trade rumors, D’Angelo Russell never stopped grinding and earned LeBron’s respect in the process.
“It takes a strong individual, especially when you’re hearing everything that goes around,” James said, via ESPN. “You’re hearing the trade talks, you’re hearing this and that and whatever the case may be and ‘Is D-Lo the right fit?’ or whatever. One thing is, he just don’t waver.
“We never gave up on him either. Even when he went to the bench, we just still wanted to instill confidence in him because we knew we were going to need him. We need his ability — his uncanny ability — to rack up points in a bundle very fast.”
Russell’s confidence is soaring this season and scored a massive 44 points in LeBron’s absence recently.
The guard is averaging 18 points, three rebounds, 6.2 assists on 47.1 percent shooting from the field.
READ MORE: Story Emerges of Luka Doncic Destroying Grant Williams at Practice