It's no secret that D'Angelo Russell didn't get along with now-former Lakers head coach, Byron Scott. Scott publicly criticized Russell's maturity and focus, and Russell wasn't afraid to throw a few shots as well.

Rather than give the rookie experience late in close games, Scott often benched him. That shouldn't be an issue with the new regime.

After a successful stint as the lead assistant for the Golden State Warriors, Luke Walton assumed the head coaching duties for LA this summer. Training camp hasn't even started, and Walton has already made a positive impression on D'Angelo:

https://twitter.com/Dloading/status/766018557582848000

Russell never would've tweeted this last year.

D'Angelo isn't the only one excited about the addition of Walton. Here's what Kobe Bryant had to say about his former teammate:

He’s gonna have them play the game the right way. He’s gonna have the foundation of the team, it’s gonna be a championship foundation it’s not gonna be isolation ball. There’s gonna be a lot of ball movement, but ball movement with purpose so the players are gonna understand why they’re moving the ball in certain situations, which then makes you a very dangerous team because now you have players on the floor who can think on the fly and think together.

Obviously, the Lakers' talent level is no where close to what Walton had in Golden State. But, under his provision, the Purple & Gold finally appear to be heading back in the right direction for the future.