Lakers fans need no introduction when it comes to their newest, and old, point guard addition in D'Angelo Russell . The Ohio State product was drafted with the No. 2 pick by the franchise back in 2015 and found himself playing in a system that featured many young pieces and Kobe Bryant at the end of his career.
A lot of baggage comes with being a professional athlete in Los Angeles and Russell witnessed this firsthand. One of the biggest reasons the team would elect to trade the southpaw point guard after just his second season was due to drama surrounding a video he took of teammate Nick Young bragging about cheating. Young was dating hip hop artist Iggy Azalea at the time and after Russell exposed him, team chemistry was never the same and he wound up on the Brooklyn Nets.
It now seems as though another professional relationship gone sour with the former All-Star was a primary factor in the Lakers obtaining him once again. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic hopped on Dan Barreiro's "Bumper to Bumper" radio show and revealed that Russell no longer wanted to play with Minnesota Timberwolves teammate, Rudy Gobert.
"There was this perception that D'Angelo Russell was very frustrated with Gobert," said Krawczynski. "He did not seem as open to working with him this season."
Krawcznski would continue by saying that despite efforts to make it work, Russell grew tired of the big man's offensive limitations. He described the situation as Russell wearing his ill feelings towards Gobert "on his sleeve" or making them very obvious.
"He didn't hide his displeasure from teammates or opponents, who heard him lamenting Gobert's offensive shortcomings during games," said Krawcznski. "The lack of fluidity frustrated Russell."
In this case, Russell lost respect for Gobert as time went on and it was mostly due to his play. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year has seen a major drop in production this season and that affected Russell, who was the team's main ball-handler. Russell is also in the last year of his contract so he is looking to prove his worth at all costs.
Luckily for Laker fans, Anthony Davis has a much more polished offensive game than Gobert so there should be no issues on that end. Russell will also be joining two players in his dream starting 5 in Davis and LeBron James.
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