D'Angelo Russell's career took a turn for the better once the Los Angeles Lakers parted ways with him, sending him to the Brooklyn Nets in efforts to unload salary and carve up a vacancy at point guard. Despite suffering an injury that kept him out for a stretch of the 2017-18 season, the now-Minnesota Timberwolves point guard quickly rose as the Nets' leading scorer and eventually an All-Star in 2019.
“Brooklyn was a place that he needed as well as Brooklyn needed him,” Antonio Russell Jr., D’Angelo’s older brother, told Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “They were able to mold each other and build each other up.”
But D'Angelo Russell isn't ready to give his former head coach Kenny Atkinson all the credit, knowing his success was just a byproduct of happenstance.
“I’m not going to give it to Kenny,” said Russell. “I still don’t think he knew what he had, honestly. I don’t think he knew what I was capable of in the fourth quarter.”
Russell is keenly aware that Caris LeVert was the star on the rise for that Nets team. His unfortunate injury along with Spencer Dinwiddie's ultimately gave him the opportunity for big minutes and plenty of chances to close games.
While Atkinson's disciplinarian tactics and sense of structure greatly helped a young player like Russell, it was the player that made the most of his opportunities.
Atkinson has gotten plenty of credit for sticking around and helping build a team from scratch, but Russell is not quite ready to add his success to his former coach's list of accolades.
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