The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors are two of the premier franchises in the NBA and it was a delight for the league and its fans to see them go head to head in the second round of the 2023 Playoffs.
The Lakers managed to beat the Warriors in six games, establishing themselves as a legitimate contender. Their series also drew fans to their television sets as it was the most watched conference semifinals in 27 years.
Several key members of the Lakers’ roster came up clutch when the team needed it, including D’Angelo Russell, who had a solid performance against his former team.
In an appearance on The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone, Russell discussed the series against Golden State and noted the difference between the two teams:
“Me honestly, I personally I always feel like the Warriors were like a team you couldn’t bet against, right? Like they always figure out whatever formula y’all trying to approach them with. Steve Kerr is a scientist, his supporting coaching staff they’re all scientists over there, so they’re gonna put something together to make it happen. So I never counted them out.
“But when you got Bron and AD and whatever other pieces we had it was tough for them to match up against us. We worrying about them, but I’m going into the series I’m like they gotta guard us. And that’s tough when you’re going against the Warriors because previous years it’s always you gotta guard them, how you gonna stop them, how you gonna slow them down. And we were hoping they missed shots and doing a good job of making them miss shots. But then on the other end they had a hard time of stopping us and I think that’s where the separation was.”
The Lakers were the much more physically imposing team as their front line featured the two stars and complementary role players like Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt. Over the course of the series, Los Angeles looked like it wore down Golden State as evidenced by the Game 6 blowout win.
The purple and gold are bringing back the core of their playoff team and their collective size, athleticism and skill should make them a serious threat in the Western Conference.
D’Angelo Russell explains difference between playing with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James
Russell has been fortunate enough to play with some all-time greats, including Kobe Bryant and James. As one of the few players in league history who has played with both stars, he took some time to explain how different it was to play with them.
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