The television broadcast team of the Los Angeles Clippers have drawn the ire of Byron Scott for criticizing how the Los Angeles Lakers head coach is handling rookie D’Angelo Russell.
Last Friday night, Don MacLean and others on his crew said that Scott should just let Russell play for 35 minutes every night, even if the point guard turns it over 12-15 times a game.
Not surprisingly, Scott disagrees:
Scott responds to criticism from Don MacLean and others who have questioned his handling of rookie D'Angelo Russell pic.twitter.com/NkceFEk37i
— Bill Oram (@billoram) February 1, 2016
What is rather interesting is that Scott allowed Russell to play 30 minutes the next game. On Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets, the rookie scored 10 points on three-of-five shooting but did turn it over five times, which is double his per-game average.
Russell has averaged almost 27 minutes per game in this, his rookie season. This isn’t too far off from what MacLean and the Clippers television crew had suggested, so it’s easy to understand why Scott bristled at their criticism.
No doubt, if Russell is still on the roster next year, he’ll average over 35 minutes per contest. With Kobe Bryant out of the way, the Lakers will be able to focus more on building the roster and team chemistry rather than ushering the legendary shooting guard out of the league in style.