With 16 games remaining in the 2023-24 NBA regular season, Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell is 10 made 3-pointers away from tying Nick Van Exel's franchise record of 183, set in 1994-95. (Kobe Bryant is second, with 80 in 2005-06.)
Russell is having his most efficient season from beyond the arc. The nine-year veteran is averaging 2.8 made 3s per game at a career-high 42.4% clip.
“It'd be a huge honor to just kind of put my name into that category,” Russell said after Lakers practice on Tuesday about setting the record. “But, me, I feel like, if I would have never left, I would have been did something like that. So confidently I'm gonna keep that in the back of my mind and at the same time still try to shatter that record, not just get that record.”
D’Angelo Russell banking in 3s pic.twitter.com/n0voCXxbK5
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) March 12, 2024
Russell's increased aggression (and swagger) has keyed the Lakers' second consecutive midseason improvement. In 26 games since returning from a tailbone injury and being reinserted into the Lakers' starting lineup on Jan. 13 — when he exploded for 39 points against the Utah Jazz — Russell is averaging 22.5 points (and 6.4 assists) while converting 45.7% of his 8.5 3-point attempts per game. The Lakers are 17-9 in that span.
It's a remarkable turnaround for Russell, who was benched amid lethargic struggles in December as trade rumors persisted through the Feb. 8 deadline. At some point, he flipped a switch from cold to cold-blooded.
“Public humiliation has done nothing but molded me into the killer that y'all see today,” he said after dropping 44 points, including the game-winner, in leading the LeBron James-less Lakers to victory over the Milwaukee Bucks last Friday. “I never lack confidence. I never fear confrontation. I want all the smoke. … I just feel confident in what I bring to the basketball game.”
Follow Us
Subscribe