Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell has looked to be a different player during the 2023 preseason, and he recently revealed that his inspiration for who he’d like to be on the court is Boston Celtics guard Derrick White.
White has never been an NBA All-Star but was an All-Defense second team selection last season for the Celtics.
The guard has been lauded both during his time with the San Antonio Spurs and Celtics for his selflessness, willingness to do the little things and overall team-first mentality. And that’s something Russell has said he wants to start being.
White was told about Russell’s comments praising him, and responded with gratitude and praise of his own for the kind of player Russell is, according to Jovan Buha and Jay King of The Athletic:
“I woke up to it and I was shocked, really,” White told The Athletic. “Obviously D-Lo’s an All-Star, has done a lot of great things in this league, a highly talented player. So it’s cool to get recognized like that, especially by a guy who’s done so much in the league like he has.”
The Boston guard spoke about why he believes Russell might want to play like him and what he provides for the Celtics:
“I think it’s just competing, being in the right place,” White said. “Whether it shows up on the stat sheet or not, just doing the things that your team needs to do. And that’s just what I’m trying to do is whatever I can do to help this team win, whether that means scoring 20 points or getting two shots. Whatever it is to help us win, I’m willing to do that. So I think that’s what (Russell) was trying to say.”
The Lakers have guards like Gabe Vincent and Austin Reaves at the forefront of the rotation, players that have proven they are willing to do the little things in order to help the team. If Russell wants to avoid a situation like the Western Conference Finals when he was effectively benched due to poor defensive effort, he has to start adopting some of those characteristics.
He’s undoubtedly shown a motivation to do so in preseason, now it’s a matter of translating it to the regular season and beyond.
Max Christie gaining clarity on role
Another team-first guard that could be fighting for minutes this season is second-year player Max Christie. And as preseason continues, he’s learning more and more what his role might look like.
“I mean yeah, I’d say so. In these preseason games, especially when you have a lot of our guys back like last game when we had Bron and AR, I’m able to carve out my role a little bit and play out that role when we get to the regular season. A night like tonight, I was able to play a little bit more free and just do my thing, but I’m getting used to the switching of roles and stuff like that.”
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