The Brooklyn Nets have made the most out of D'Angelo Russell since he was traded to them by the Los Angeles Lakers. While Russell, then a second-year player looking ahead to his next season, could have sulked by the franchise giving up on him so quickly, he instead took comfort in the fresh opportunity ahead:
“When he first got traded, I remember exactly where I was at,” Russell's brother Antonio told Max Resetar of SLAM Magazine “I was in Kentucky at a movie theater. I called him right away. I was like, ‘Yo, what is it?’ He was just like, ‘Bro, you do not know how excited I am right now to have a clean slate.’”
Russell was coming off a season filled with rumors of his involvement in a locker room fiasco with former teammate Nick Young, as well as hoopla of his inefficiencies as a former No. 2 overall pick.
The trade to Brooklyn represented a new opportunity, one he could get a firm hold of, hoping to rewrite the narrative of his career as a pro:
“For me to get traded first, I knew that I was prepared to go dominate wherever I went,” said Russell. “I was ready.”
Russell has done just that, averaging 20.7 points and 6.8 assists for the Nets in his second season with the team, already showing the maturity and leadership the Lakers had hoped to see from really early on.
The Ohio State product had perhaps his best game yet on Wednesday, completing a 28-point comeback against the Sacramento Kings on the road, pouring in 27 of his 44 points in the fourth quarter and sparking his team to a 123-121 win with a barrage of 3-pointers and heady defensive plays down the stretch.
Hindsight is a beautiful gift the Lakers were simply not granted when handling Russell.
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