D’Angelo Russell has had a rocky relationship with the Los Angeles Lakers organization as he was originally drafted with the No. 2 overall pick in 2015. He was traded to the Brooklyn Nets less than two years later, however, and bounced around the league after that for a few years.
Russell eventually found his way back to the Lakers at the trade deadline last year when he was acquired in the blockbuster Russell Westbrook deal. Russell became the team’s starting point guard during their run to the Western Conference Finals and he remains that now after re-signing with the team in the offseason.
Things weren’t always great between Russell and the Lakers although they are definitely on good terms now with the common goal of wanting to win the organization’s 18th championship.
Going back to Russell’s first tenure with the Lakers though, it ended when president of basketball operations Magic Johnson decided to trade him and Timofey Mozgov to the Nets for Brook Lopez and the draft pick that wound up becoming Kyle Kuzma.
After the trade went down, Johnson famously went on TV and said that he made the trade because he needed a leader, and Russell was not that at the time. Johnson and the Lakers would go on to draft Lonzo Ball with the No. 2 overall pick to replace Russell at point guard.
All these years later, Russell responded to Johnson’s comments on his new podcast The Backyard Podcast and explained why he didn’t agree with his words:
“I remember Magic Johnson was like ‘We need a leader,’ or something like that. And I was already a natural leader. Like that was just already me and I didn’t even know I was. After I got away from that, I was like ‘Damn, that’s really me. Everything that he said, I’m actually doing that.’ I started realizing my teammates did want to play with me. I did make guys around me better. I did lead guys off the floor and help them get their shit together routine wise, diet, sleep, whatever. I was actually that guy. But he created this stereotype that I wasn’t this guy so then I was fighting that my whole career.”
It’s good to see that Russell did not get discouraged by Johnson’s comments and used them to get better and continue growing as a leader, which eventually led him back to the Lakers.
To Johnson’s credit, he liked it when the Lakers brought Russell back and stated that he believes the point guard has grown and matured as a leader since his first stint in L.A.
It’s unclear if Russell and Johnson have gotten the chance to speak one-on-one since those comments, but what is clear is that both are pulling for the Lakers to win the championship this season and that should be reason enough to unite them.
D’Angelo Russell & other Lakers became trade eligible on Dec. 15
Despite re-signing with the Lakers, Russell’s name is of course still going to be in trade rumors leading up to the deadline in February.
Rumors may start heating up now that he and the other free agents the team signed this past offseason became trade eligible on Dec. 15.
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