Discussing the Lakers‘ regression this season despite having a talented crop of young players, coach Byron Scott pointed to the roster’s overall NBA inexperience as a major contributing factor, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “You take away some of the veterans we had last year and plug in these young guys that haven’t played at this level, it’s a different story,” Scott said. “They’re learning and it’s hard. When we had the veteran guys, they know how to compete every single night. They’ve been in the league for a while. These young guys don’t know how to do that every night. That’s what they’re learning how to do in bringing that intensity earlier today. You have to bring that intensity level every single night. For the young guys right now, their attention to detail that they don’t have on a night-to-night basis is tough. But they’re learning. They’re getting a hard lesson this year for learning what not to do.”
- Lakers power forward Julius Randle is optimistic that he and young teammates Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell can help turn around the franchise’s fortunes next season, Joey Ramirez of NBA.com relays. “I definitely learned a lot, but there’s no greater teacher than experience,” Randle said. “We know there are steps we have to take to get better individually and collectively. I think we’re doing the necessary things to get there. From the beginning of the season to now, I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress.“
- Lakers shooting guard Nick Young has lost his mental focus and dropped out of the team’s rotation as a result, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Young has kept a low profile since a gossip site leaked the video of rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell secretly taping him talking about his personal life. “Right now he’s not here with us mentally and there’s no need for me to put him out there on the floor as well,” Lakers coach Byron Scott told Bresnahan and other media members. The team shopped Young this season and will continue to do so in the offseason, Bresnahan adds.
He has only appeared in 31 games this season, but 36-year-old Metta World Peace believes his NBA career is far from over, according to Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. World Peace, who earned a roster spot with the Lakers last fall after a year out of the league, hopes to play another two to four more seasons. Although he spent parts of last season in China and Italy, he doesn’t want to take his talents overseas again. “I think I can still play in the league,” World Peace said. “I feel good. I feel like I was able to guard and able to post. I feel like I answered a lot of questions.” He is making nearly $1.5MM this season and is averaging 4.5 points and 16.6 minutes per game.
There’s more Lakers news this morning:
- After two decades as part of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry, Kobe Bryant will face Boston for the final time today, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Bryant says the loss to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals changed the way he approaches the game. “In 2008 what I learned was that my leadership, I felt, was what failed us as a team,” Bryant recalled. “I had built our team to be a very strong, cohesive unit, but I hadn’t built our team to beat the toughness of the Celtics.”
- The Lakers would like to revive that rivalry, but they understand they have a lot of work to do first, relays Jovan Buha of ESPN.com. L.A. is still early in its rebuilding process, stumbling to a 16-59 record while developing young players. The Celtics are much farther along, ranking among the East’s best teams at 44-32. “We have a lot of work, as far as that’s concerned,” said Lakers coach Byron Scott. “But I think a lot of these young guys, they don’t understand the rivalry. And the only way you can get that rivalry back is you have to have both teams be very competitive.”
- The Lakers need a top two draft pick to be assured of getting an elite talent, contends Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times. Pincus tabs LSU’s Ben Simmons and Duke’s Brandon Ingram as the only sure things in this year’s draft. L.A is second in Hoops Rumors’ reverse standings, meaning its odds are 19.9% for the first pick, 18.8% for the second and 17.1% for the third. If the Lakers’ pick falls any farther in the May 17th lottery, it will be sent to Philadelphia.
- Both Nick Young and D’Angelo Russell are under contract for the Lakers next season and coach Byron Scott noted that the pair coexisting for another year shouldn’t be an issue despite the current tension, Jovan Buha of ESPN.com relays. “At the end of the day, we’re all grown men in here,” Scott said. “People make mistakes and you have to understand that and you have to just kind of move on. Now, will they ever be buddy-buddy again? I don’t know. But they do have to coexist as long as they’re both here, and I think they can.“
- Some in the Lakers organization fear that the video controversy surrouding D’Angelo Russell will obstruct the team’s efforts in free agency this summer, writes Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding, though a prominent agent who spoke with Sean Deveney of The Sporting News scoffed at that notion.
The video controversy involving D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young was an inevitable result of their flawed personalities, contends Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report. Ding says Russell’s immaturity and Young’s desire for a celebrity lifestyle combined to create the incident, which reportedly has led to deep rifts in the locker room. The columnist adds that many in the Lakers’ front office are angry at Russell for bringing this distraction to the team and are worried that it may turn off potential free agent targets. However, the Lakers recognize Russell’s unique talents and aren’t likely to deal him away over a misguided prank.
There’s more Lakers news from Los Angeles:
- The Russell-Young story is making waves throughout the league, writes David Mayo of MLive. Pistons power forward Marcus Morris said he probably won’t speak to Russell again, adding, “That’s something you don’t want to see in the NBA.” Detroit teammate Stanley Johnson, a longtime friend of Russell’s, says being a rookie doesn’t excuse what he did, and coach/executive Stan Van Gundy agreed with Lakers’ coach Byron Scott that the incident shouldn’t have become public knowledge. “This should be one of those situations where whatever is said in there stays in there,” Van Gundy said, referring to the locker room.
- Kobe Bryant received an offer last summer to play for Barcelona, according to the Spanish website mundodeportivo.com (hat tip to Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com). The offer called for Bryant to appear only in Euroleague games, which feature the most successful teams from each participating nation. Because Bryant is making $25MM this year in his final season with the Lakers, it’s likely that the Barcelona offer was for next season. Bryant reportedly turned it down, saying he wasn’t physically able to handle the competition.
- Scott hasn’t provided the smooth transition into the post-Kobe era that the franchise was counting on, but Jabari Davis of Basketball Insiders believes the team has a young core that will eventually turn the Lakers into winners again. Despite his off-court faux pas, Russell has shown himself to be an exceptional talent, and Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. also provide hope for the future, either as part of the resurgence or as trade pieces to bring in veteran talent.
A source close to Nick Young tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that D’Angelo Russell hasn’t apologized directly to him, which conflicts with an earlier report that Young had accepted an apology from the rookie for secretly recording his statements about women other than his fiancee. Young chose not to be in the room when Russell apologized to the team as a whole for the incident, Medina hears. Other Lakers teammates indicated through their remarks Wednesday that they’re ready to move past the tension that’s existed since Russell’s recording went public, but Young declined to address the matter beyond a brief statement, as Medina details. “I don’t want to get into my personal life right now,” Young said. “I think it’s best me and D’Angelo handle the situation we have in a private manner outside of the media. I think it’s something we do need to sit down and talk about. That’s about it. What happened is what happened. We have to work on it.”
Nick Young has accepted D’Angelo Russell‘s apology over the controversial video that had seem to drive a wedge between Russell and his teammates, a source told Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Lakers players reportedly shunned Russell following the public release of a video he secretly recorded that depicted Young talking about women other than his fiancee. Russell apologized to the team before Wednesday’s win over Miami, Jordan Clarkson said, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (on Twitter), and the rookie expressed profound contrition in an interview with The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
“The thing is, we record ourselves doing dumb stuff all the time,” Russell said. “On the road or home, wherever. We go back and watch what we did and said and laugh at ourselves. I guess I just never thought that these pranks we pull on ourselves could have bigger consequences. That was a big lesson I learned. I’ve said to myself over and over: What could anyone possibly gain by intentionally doing something that could hurt someone else’s relationship? I never wanted to hurt anyone. I’m sorry for it.”
The flap that temporarily cast the future of last year’s No. 2 overall pick in doubt seemed to dissipate amid the team’s victory and the appearance of Lamar Odom, who attended his first NBA game after a health scare that threatened his life in October. Kobe Bryant said after the game that Odom’s recovery stands as an example for Russell of how a dire situation can improve over time, notes Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). See more on the Lakers:
- A prominent agent who spoke with Sean Deveney of The Sporting News laughed off the notion that players around the league would be reluctant to play with the Lakers if Russell is still on the team, and Deveney suggests the long-term implications of the video incident are overblown. Given Young’s poor production this season, his status on the team is more tenuous than Russell’s, Deveney insists.
- The agent pointed to the Lakers’ money and geographic location as reasons why they’re a draw for players, but the results of this past offseason, when LaMarcus Aldridge and others spurned the team, say otherwise, contends Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post, who believes the team’s issues go far beyond the video.
- Larry Nance Jr. had never played small forward before this season, but the Lakers have him at the three now and will keep him at the position for summer-league play with an eye toward using him as a long-term complement to power forward Julius Randle, as Medina details.
Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell has reportedly upset the bulk of the team’s roster thanks to a prank gone terribly wrong. Teammates are ostracizing Russell, who recorded a private conversation in which Nick Young spoke about being with women other than his fiancee, the Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, according to a report by Baxter Holmes and Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Some within Lakers brass are upset with Russell, too, but they’ve left the matter to the players thus far, Holmes and Stein write. Coach Byron Scott has notoriously harped on Russell’s maturity, work ethic and attitude, and several team sources who spoke with Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News had levied the same criticisms even before the video was exposed.
Young and Russell were friends, with the swingman at times publicly sticking up for the 2015 No. 2 overall pick, but sources who spoke with Medina believe the now-strained friendship is beyond repair. Young went out of his way to avoid crossing Russell’s path at Staples Center before Friday’s game, according to Medina. No Lakers would sit with Russell for a recent breakfast meeting, Holmes and Stein hear. Another time, Lou Williams stood up and walked away when Russell sat next to him in the locker room, according to Holmes and Stein.
The sanctity and privacy of the locker room is one of the most important unwritten rules in all of team sports. Athletes are under the microscope from media and fans almost constantly and the locker room is supposed to act as a buffer and a safe haven where players can be free to relax and be themselves. Russell’s actions, while likely not malicious in intent, definitely crossed a line, and it remains to be seen if the relationship between Russell and his teammates can be repaired.
Russell has had a difficult rookie campaign on the court as well, struggling to make the jump to the NBA as a point guard after one season at Ohio State. He’s appeared in 72 contests, including 40 as a starter, and is averaging 13.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists on the year. His play of late has shown improvement, but this rift between him and his teammates could set back the progress of the entire franchise. Chemistry and trust are vital to the success of any team, even more so between a point guard and his running mates, and if the rest of the Lakers are freezing him out off the court, it’s fair to wonder how this may impact the team in the long run.
This brings me to the topic for today: Should the Lakers look to trade D’Angelo Russell?
In all fairness to Russell, he is just 20 years old, which leaves him plenty of time to mature and grow as a person. The point guard certainly has a wealth of talent and has shown flashes of greatness on occasion this season, which bodes well for his future as a player, but it remains to be seen if his teammates will get over this act of betrayal. There may be serious personal consequences for Young, whose relationship could end over Russell’s clandestine video being made public. Regardless of what you think of Young’s actions in a moral sense, it wasn’t Russell’s place to reveal them to the world. The Lakers are a rebuilding team and many of their current players likely won’t be returning next season, so the current locker room dynamic may be altered as a result. But the question still remains as to how any new teammates will react to Russell and if it will hurt the franchise’s free agent recruiting efforts.
Now it’s time to turn the discussion over to you. Do you think that Los Angeles should part ways with Russell as a result of his actions? Or do you believe he is too valuable a player to trade? Will this scandal blow over, or do you think the Lakers’ locker room is irreparably broken? Take to the comments section to share your thoughts and opinions on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.