D'Angelo Russell Reiterates Willingness To Sacrifice To Help Lakers Win
11/18/2024 05:35 PM
When Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick moved D’Angelo Russell to the bench, there were some questions as to how the guard might respond to losing his starting spot.
Since coming back to the Lakers via trade, Russell has been the normal starting point guard but Redick moved him to a sixth man role to better balance the lineups. Redick went with Cam Reddish as Russell’s replacement and his inclusion has allowed LeBron James and Austin Reaves to thrive more as on-ball playmakers and scorers.
Meanwhile, Russell has had to deal with playing fewer minutes and not closing games due to his inconsistent defense. While he remains one of the team’s better individual scorers, the move to the bench has paid dividends and appears to be set for the foreseeable future.
Los Angeles is currently on a five-game winning streak after their victory over the New Orleans Pelicans and Russell summed up how he’s been able to buy in to what Redick and the coaching staff are preaching.
"Just a lot of sacrifice,” Russell said after practice on Monday. “Simple as that."
As far as how things have played out, Russell isn’t complaining about his new role because the team has been successful. "Yeah, because we're winning."
Russell dismissed the idea of needing the offense to run through him more because the Lakers are playing well.
"We're winning bro, I don't care about none of that," the point guard concluded.
Russell previously preached the importance of committing to what the Lakers’ coaching staff is teaching and so far he’s followed his own advice. While it must be frustrating not to be on the floor as much, it’s hard to complain when the team is racking up wins and moving up the standings.
Redick mentioned that the starting lineup situation is fluid, so there’s a chance that Russell could find himself back in his old role at some point this season. However, that would likely take a combination of injuries and losing before Redick goes back to the previous iteration of the starting lineup.
For now, Russell’s got to make do coming off the bench in what could be a pivotal year for his career.
Rob Pelinka being met with closed doors looking for trade opportunities
When D’Angelo Russell picked up his player option for the 2024-25 season, the immediate thought was he would be traded at some point during the year. However, it appears the general manager Rob Pelinka is being met with closed doors when it comes to trade opportunities to improve the Lakers.
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