D’Angelo Russell has been making waves since joining the Los Angeles Lakers during the NBA trade deadline. Unsurprisingly, the former All-Star has also left quite an impression on his new teammates. Just as Austin Reaves.
Reaves had nothing but high praise for Russell after watching the new Lakers recruit dominate the Toronto Raptors on Sunday in his first contest back following a six-game injury absence:
“He’s a really good basketball player that plays the game the right way,” Reaves said of D’Angelo, via beat reporter Ryan Ward of Lakers Nation. “You don’t really see him too many times in the midst of a game making a wild play. He’s very under control, plays at his own pace, and like I said, he’s just super talented.”
Did Reaves just take a veiled shot at former teammate Russell Westbrook here? We all know that Russ isn’t exactly the most under-control player out there, and it appears that Reaves is comparing D’Angelo to Westbrook with his comments here. Well, NBA Twitter seems to think so:
“Plays the game the right way” pic.twitter.com/YUEgV6Xe0Q
— Lakers Better 🏆 (@mvpbronlal) March 11, 2023
Bro just dissed Russ 😭😭
— DepressedLakersFan (@RicoSuavee33) March 11, 2023
ie “It makes a world of difference when your PG isn’t a masonry worker smh”
— PEM (@BigPhil619) March 11, 2023
is this a shot at russ it feels like a shot at russ 😂
— possum possum (@possum346) March 11, 2023
Russell Westbrook sneak diss…#NBA #LeBronJames pic.twitter.com/3wTfKH9qJE
— MidCity L.A.Ⓜ️ (@23rdStand10thAv) March 11, 2023
Austin reaves did not think Russ was a good basketball player😂Russ stans come get me! Idgaf
— Lakers101 (@bray_lo23) March 11, 2023
Whatever the case may be, Austin Reaves no longer needs to deal with Westbrook now that the former league MVP has taken his talents across town to the Los Angeles Clippers. As far as I know, there’s no bad blood between Reaves and Russ. However, it’s hard not to make the association here following the former’s rather controversial comments.
The most important thing for Lakers fans is that they’ve now moved on from the failed Russell Westbrook experiment. D’Angelo Russell has been a revelation for them since joining the team, and as it is, it appears that LA is heading in the right direction.