D’Angelo Russell ‘looking forward to moving on’ as he speaks out on latest Lakers stint

Earlier this season, veteran guard D’Angelo Russell saw his second stint with the Los Angeles Lakers come to an end in familiar fashion. For the second time in his career, he was traded from the Lakers to the Brooklyn Nets.

Now, the Nets are in Los Angeles to take on the Lakers for the first time since the trade, and it has given Russell a chance to reflect on his second stint with the Purple and Gold.

“It was just a blur,” he said when asked to sum up his stint. “I think coming, I was locked into what I had to achieve personally to be there. To not be there now obviously is something that you try to get over and just try to move past, but that is a place that I’ve been there twice. There’s a home for me there. For myself, I feel like as a part of my career that something you can’t really take back, so I appreciate it. Just looking forward to moving on.”

Russell’s second stint with the Lakers began when L.A. acquired him in the middle of the 2022-23 season. Upon joining the squad, he helped the Lakers reach the 2023 Western Conference Finals in a thrilling playoff run that ultimately ended at the hands of the Denver Nuggets.

Russell then spent the entire 2023-24 season with L.A. and helped the team win the NBA Cup, but the Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs, again by the Nuggets.

This season, the veteran appeared in 29 games for the Lakers before being traded. Under first-year head coach J.J. Redick, Russell saw a diminished role, as he started less often and averaged less playing time than he did under former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham.

In December, he was traded to the Nets as part of a deal that brought veteran forward Dorian Finney-Smith to the Lakers.

Russell is still trying to get his footing with Brooklyn. He has been in and out of the lineup lately due to injury and has appeared in just four games with the Nets since the trade. The good news for the 28-year-old is that he’ll be good to go on Friday against the Lakers.

While it wasn’t always perfect for Russell during his first and second stints with Los Angeles, he certainly offered a lot to the organization and gave fans plenty to cheer about over the years. Hopefully for him, there will be more bright moments ahead in his NBA career.