Former Lakers player Nick Young, and D'Angelo Russell certainly have beef with each other, going back to when they were teammates during the 2015-16 season. That is to say, it all started when Russell secretly recorded a private conversation between him and his friend at the time, Young, admitting to cheating on his fiancée, Australian rapper/model Iggy Azalea. In a video that was leaked from Russell's phone, you can hear the two casually talking about Young's apparent dating life.
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The video clip concludes with Russell telling the unsuspecting Young, "I'm glad you told my video all that," which made Young look over at him in surprise, responding "huh?"
NSFW language included:
In an interview with Vlad Tv, Young was asked, "Do you know how that video got out? Cause he didn't actually post that video himself, did he?"
Young responded, "He say he didn't, but I don't know how else it got out..."
"You never would think a teammate or anybody would do something like that," he added. "I gotta see this guy every day and play."
No one knows why Russell, a rookie at the time, did what he did. No matter the case, the betrayal incident certainly not only affected the relationship between the two, but also the team's unity as a whole. The rest of the Lakers players reportedly ostracized Russell, no one would even sit next to him at the table during the team breakfast meetings. Consequently, because of the team chemistry being diminished, the Lakers went on to lose the next game by 48 points in a 123-75 loss to the Utah Jazz.
Fast forward eight years later to now, when looking at Young's recent statement on his former friend and teammate, turned foe, he goes on to blame the current 2023-24 Lakers' team struggles to be a result of Russell's inconsistencies.
"They depended on D-LO, and that's just... You're asking to lose right there, placing your faith in that."
The Denver Nuggets won 4-1 vs. the Lakers during the first-round playoff series matchup, one season following the purple-and-gold being swept by the defending champs in the Western Conference Finals. After going 1-8 vs. the Nuggets, a lot of fingers were pointed at the point guard, Russell, who struggled to find his shot during certain critical moments. Taking a look at his last two playoff series, D-Lo averaged 10.9 points (36.5% FG; 27.1% 3PT), 2.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists.
Although Russell put up nearly 20 points per game in the month of March, helping elevate the Lakers (47-35) to a playoff berth by securing the seventh seed, come playoff time the 28-year-old seemed to have lost his touch a bit. To note, during Game 1 Russell shot 1-for-9 from deep, then in Game 3 he shot 0-for-7 from the field, scoring 0 points. During the game, on the brink of being down 0-3, cameras caught Russell on the bench away from the team huddle, being on his phone during a timeout.
D’Angelo Russell not present in the Lakers’ huddle as they’re on the verge of a 3-0 deficit.
(via @LADEIG) pic.twitter.com/zgARCrVQDL
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 26, 2024
Then in elimination Game 5, Russell shot 2-for-10 from beyond the arc, which is certainly not in line with his season average of 41.5% 3-PT shooting. After the loss, the Lakers' season concluded, and the blame-game started.
As for who to hold accountable, the Lakers have a couple candidates, considering that head coach Darvin Ham was fired after the season-ending loss. However, even the coach, like Young, also seemed to have maybe taken a jab at Russell on the way out.
"If you're coaching a team and one of your starters is like 10 games in a row, just s******g the bed, what are you going to do?" Ham said in his last ever Lakers' postgame interview.
Young seemed to have agreed with the Lakers coach, as he said, "I was making fun of Ham, but the Lakers just didn't have the staff, the team."
"What do you expect? They put their faith in the snitch, and the snitch let you down, man."
