D’Angelo Russell speaks con The Athletic of his return to the Los Angeles Lakers, after an unconvincing chapter with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“I’m having so much fun here….Honestly, I felt limited at the Timberwolves. I always had to be the third option…. Some nights if I was a little more aggressive, there was always someone holding me back. But now I’m in a position where I can be aggressive and pace my team-mates, and where the team benefits from anyone with that kind of energy.”
Russell often played with the reserve group in training with the Timberwolves.
“I wanted to play in that environment because I felt the style I played in matches made me lose confidence… I’m a killer man. I’m a bird that needs to fly and I couldn’t do it there. They put me in a box, in which despite everything I was successful… Then I love to play and in those matches I often played my best basketball, because I didn’t have the right rhythm (in ‘real’ matches). I had to adapt to hierarchies. And, with all due respect, I only agreed to do it because we were winning….I’m selfless, and I think it’s contagious when you have some of your best players who are the first to be selfless, it cascades through to the rest of the pack. I try to be the one who cheers. I try to be the one to help kids get up, high-five everyone more than anyone else, just because I know it’s contagious.”
The former Ohio State, 16.7 points and 6 assists per game in the playoffs, will become a free agent at the end of the season.
“I would be very happy to stay here at the Lakers, but it’s not just up to me, the club will also have to make a decision about it.”
Here we see him in action in game 3 with the Warriors, a performance of 21 points and 5 assists with 8/13 shooting