Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
When the Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament, many believed it was a sign of things to come, projecting more future success later in the playoffs. Yet, after being eliminated in the first round, now the blame game is taking place, and it’s D’Angelo Russell’s turn to take some heat.
The third-highest-paid player on the Lakers, at $17.3 million (in 2023-24), ended up being the third-highest-scoring player on the team. Yet, Russell’s production dipped when the NBA Playoffs began, where his scoring average slipped from 18 PPG down to 14.2. His shooting percentages cratered too, going from 45% (FG) and 41% (3PT) down to 38% and 31% against the Denver Nuggets.
Needless to say, Russell, despite a couple of 20-plus point performances, was too inconsistent to help the Lakers advance to the next round of the NBA Playoffs.
Now, Nick Young, a former teammate of Russell’s on the Lakers, is speaking out about D-Lo’s struggles, though there might be some revenge at play here.
“They depended on D-Lo. You’re asking to lose right there, placing your faith in that. The snitch let you down.”
Former Laker Nick Young on D-Lo impacting Los Angeles’ title hopes
If you needed a reminder, Russell once recorded footage of Young admitting to cheating on his then-fiancee Iggy Azalea. Young believed it was D-Lo who released the clip publicly, and it seems he hasn’t moved on since.
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