When D’Angelo Russell played his first two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, he was saddled with a number teammates who were lacking in talent, skill or experience.
This year, the Lakers have loaded up for a run at the NBA championship. Russell, now a member of the Golden State Warriors, paid homage to his former team and recognized how much has changed since his departure.
D'Angelo Russell on watching the LeBron/AD Lakers: "It's different. It's different seeing all those big guys on the floor at the same time. LeBron playing point alongside those dudes. It's cool. It looks like a fantasy team or something."
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) October 6, 2019
Russell was drafted by the Lakers with the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft and was expected by many to be a huge part of their future.
He was largely disappointing in his first two seasons with the Purple and Gold. Although he averaged 14.3 points and 4.0 assists per game during that span, he shot a weak 40.8 percent from the field.
In the summer of 2017, he was traded along with Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets for Brook Lopez and the draft rights to Kyle Kuzma in what’s still considered a controversial trade by Lakers fans.
Last season, Russell finally started to fulfill some of his potential, as he went on a huge hot streak at midseason that earned him an All-Star bid for the first time in his career. For the season, he put up 21.1 points and 7.0 assists per game.
He was briefly considered a free agent target for the Lakers, but decided to join the Warriors instead.
