D’Angelo Russell Gets his Revenge

LeBron James and the Lakers are missing the playoffs, and that is official now. The fact that LBJ misses the postseason for the first time since 2005, is the biggest news in the NBA last night, besides Harden’s 61 buckets.

But there is one very interesting situation which is a bit neglected by the media, and it needs to get more attention than it currently does.

D’Angelo Russell got his revenge over the franchise which traded him. In the best possible way.

It was known for a long time ago that the Lakers aren’t going to reach the playoffs for the 6th straight season. And the fans were getting ready for the official announcement of that bad news.

Well, to make it even more painful, Russell was the guy who delivered this.

With a couple of threes in the moments when Lakers had momentum, and several dishes to Jarrett Allen and Joe Harris, the former No.2 drafted by the purple and gold, was crushing the home team’s defense all night long.

When reporters asked him did he felt content for destroying Lakers’ playoff chances, at their court, Russell stated that he isn’t looking at this win from that point of view.

“Sounds good on paper, but at the end of the day, we’re not playing them,” Russell said. “We’re not competing against them for seeding, so the win is good enough.”

Now, for some, this is a decent statement, which puts a focus on Nets’ performances. For others, this was an ironic way of saying that the Nets are competing for the playoffs and that on the other hand, the Lakers are some second-class team, who isn’t important too much.

You know, “the win is good enough,” phrase says it all.

Though the player didn’t say anything, this is a sweet revenge for all those comments Magic Johnson stated after LAL traded him to Brooklyn.

Back then the Lakers’ president of the basketball operations said that he needed a leader, and because of that Lonzo Ball filled in his spot.

“But what I needed was a leader,” Magic commented a long time ago on Lonzo replacing Russell. “I needed somebody also that can make the other players better and also that players want to play with.”

The whole disastrous period with the purple and gold is just a bad memory for him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H8uSQU_NfM

He didn’t want to speak about that too much after the contest and stated that several big names who played the game had a similar start of their respective careers like he did.

“Not many guys started somewhere and then that was forgotten throughout their career. You know, Chauncey Billups, the (Steve) Nashes of that group, so I’m trying to consider myself one of those guys.”

Russell ended the night with 21 points and 13 assists, leading his team to a second straight win in California after a miraculous comeback in Sacramento a few nights ago.

He had a huge help in Joe Harris who used his assists very well, and hit six three-pointers. The winner of this year’s All-Star three-point contest finished the night with 26 points.

D’Angelo had four downtown hits of his own, but the one with 7:20 until the end, when Lakers had an 88-87 advantage was a bit different than others.

Lakers’ crowd was fired up in those moments, because their team reached the guests and took the lead after a long time. They were sensing that LBJ and the guys on the court could seize the control of the game.

After making the shot, Russell turned towards the stands and put the finger on his mouth, silencing the crowd.

Nets have one more game through the West, in Portland, and then go to Philly. After that Russell and the boys are finally getting back to their Barclays Center.

They are currently just half a game behind the Pistons who are sixth in the East.