Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
After Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell made a comment about how he used to get a favorable whistle in L.A. — seemingly during his first stint with the Purple and Gold — Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker couldn’t help but respond with a subtle jab.
Russell spent the first two seasons of his NBA career with the Lakers before bouncing around the league to three other teams. Ahead of the trade deadline in the 2022-23 season, he found his way back to Los Angeles, where he has played since.
Based on his comments, Russell doesn’t seem to think that he gets the type of whistle he used to, but he has still been an important piece for the Lakers since reuniting with the team.
Booker may have a theory that the Lakers get a more favorable whistle than other teams. For what it’s worth, L.A. did rank second in the NBA in free-throw attempts per game last season, and the team was first in the league in that category in the 2022-23 season.
That could be chalked up to L.A.’s style of play — or it’s possible that other factors have contributed to the trend, like Booker implied.
It’s worth noting that during Russell’s first two seasons with the Lakers in the NBA — the part of his career that he might have been referencing to Booker — L.A. was closer to the middle of the pack in terms of free-throw attempts per game.
The Lakers and Suns are two Western Conference teams that just had disappointing seasons when they were hoping to be championship contenders. Both teams were eliminated in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs and won a combined one playoff game.
The squads will look to get back on track in the 2024-25 season. If the chips fall the right way for both teams, they could end up getting in each other’s way in the West, but there’s a long way to go until that could become a reality.
Russell and Booker seem to have a good relationship, but that isn’t going to stop them from taking some friendly jabs at each other when it comes to basketball.
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