Brooklyn Nets point guard D'Angelo Russell reached out to Los Angeles Lakers superstar small forward LeBron James last summer for advice on how to become a better player and more consistent.
Russell knew in the offseason that this was going to be a very important season for him. The lefty will become a restricted free agent after this season ends and wants to show the Nets — and the rest of the NBA — that he is a franchise-caliber point guard.
Via Leo Sepkowitz of Bleacher Report:
For help in this area, Russell called on the league’s most steady player. “I actually reached out to LeBron this summer,” he says. D'Angelo Russell asked: “‘What’s the best thing for becoming consistent?’ He’s like, ‘You have to be prepared mentally to go out and dominate every game, and then your teammates will follow that.’” In past years, Russell lacked routine. “After shootaround,” he says, “I might play video games, might talk shit with my boys, might take a nap, might eat a pregame meal, might get treatment—might. Now it’s so strict with what I’m doing every time. Game day, off day, it’s so strict, and that’s played a lot into my success.”
Looks like D'Angelo Russell took LeBron James' instruction very seriously, as the 22-year-old is having a career-year this season and was named an NBA All-Star for the first time. Russell is averaging 20.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game this season for the Nets.
What's ironic about this story is that Russell and James could have been teammates in Los Angeles if the Lakers didn't give up on Russell so quickly and trade him to Brooklyn in the summer of 2017. It's a move Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka might be regretting.
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