The Los Angeles Lakers bailed on former No. 2 overall selection D'Angelo Russell, hoping to clear the way for another point guard, one they believed would bring Showtime back to Los Angeles once again. Russell was traded to the Brooklyn Nets alongside Timofey Mozgov for Brook Lopez, yet despite having carved out his first All-Star season and likely reaching his first postseason all before the Lakers find success, the young point guard harbors no hard feelings:

“I don’t think there’s anything else to be said from my part,” Russell told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. “Whatever y’all decide to cook up. Whatever quote y’all take, expand on it, good luck with it. But I don’t have any extra emotion.”

While Russell had his share of setbacks, missing 31 straight games in his first season with Brooklyn, he has rebounded strongly to put together not only an All-Star campaign, but to put the Nets on the map, now sixth in the East with a 36-34 record and hoping to stay there with only 12 games remaining in the season.

The Lakers, meanwhile, have had plenty of difficulties since Russell's departure, from missing the playoff in 2017-18 to getting little improvement upon landing LeBron James, now bound to miss the playoffs for yet another season.

Russell received plenty of backhanded shots upon his departure, as president Magic Johnson declared this:

“What I needed was a leader. I needed somebody also that can make the other players better and also somebody that players want to play with.”

Upon the Lakers' first visit to the Barclays Center, fans shouted “thank you, Magic” — a sarcastic nod for the trade that sent Russell to Brooklyn, allowing for this rebuild to take shape.

“Loyal fans right there,” Russell said, noting there's not a whisker of sentiment left once he makes his return to Staples Center later this month.