D’Angelo Russell has essentially become the forgotten man this offseason as despite picking up his player option to return to the Los Angeles Lakers, not many people are talking about him going into the year.
Russell is coming off one of the best seasons of his career and could have tested free agency but chose not to, likely signaling there wasn’t much interest around the league.
So he will head into the 2024-25 season as JJ Redick’s starting point guard on the Lakers, and the head coach discussed how excited he is to coach Russell.
“I would say throughout the summer, he was probably the guy that I talked to the most of anyone on the roster,” Redick said at a press conference on Wednesday. “We had a number of conversations during free agency and throughout July and August and he’s going to have a major role on this team. I think the thing that DLo and I have talked about a lot is just like, ‘Let’s put you in a position to have a career year.’
“His mindset, his energy, the talk that he’s brought, the leadership that he’s brought when he’s been in the building, has been excellent. So I’m thrilled. Thrilled to be coaching DLo this season. He’s in a great place right now heading into training camp.”
It’s good to see that Russell and Redick are on the same page going into the season as that wasn’t always the case with Darvin Ham.
As a former sharpshooter himself though, it seems that Redick knows how to get the best out of Russell, which will be important for this Lakers team. If the Lakers are gonna be competitive this season then they will need Russell bought in and playing at the level he did last regular season.
D’Angelo Russell shares where competitive edge came from
During his time with the Lakers and in the NBA, D’Angelo Russell has always been known as a super competitive player and he recently detailed where that edge came from.
“I mean, I would say during basketball. When I first started, it hurt when I lost and that’s when I knew it was like something. Because nothing else I did, nothing else I felt hurt when I lost. I was just like, what the hell is that? Then in time, I started using it to my advantage, trying to come with a competitive edge before the game even starts and whatever we’re doing. I always try to approach it with an early and often mentality because my competitive edge got me off jumping early and then it’s just going to be as often as you can think. By the time you look up, we’re up 20 points, we’re up 15 points, we’re up 10 points, where I just went on a run, eight, nine-point run by myself or something like that.”
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