The NBA announced on Monday that they have fined Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell $15,000 for kicking the game ball into the spectator stands, announced by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.
The incident took place on Saturday in L.A.’s double overtime win against the Golden State Warriors. When Stephen Curry’s full-court heave at the buzzer came up short, Russell was seen kicking the ball into the stands.
It was certainly an emotional game for the Lakers as players on both sides logged heavy minutes, but the NBA is not taking any chances of fans potentially getting hurt by a basketball going into the stands. This is unfortunate for Russell as he made a big-time 3-pointer late in the second overtime to give the purple and gold the lead.
Usually when a player is caught kicking or throwing the game ball into the stands, it results in a technical foul and/or a fine. Thankfully, no spectators were harmed due to Russell’s actions, but the league does not put up with that kind of behavior regardless of whether anyone is hurt.
Russell has recently found himself in plenty of trade rumors with the Feb. 8 trade deadline looming, which has resulted in an uptick in his play, potentially playing his way out of rumors. In the last 10 games, the 27-year-old is averaging 25 points and 6.2 assists on 52% from the field and 51.8% from distance.
When the point guard is clicking offensively and in a groove, it is abundantly clear that he takes the Lakers’ offense to another level. It especially makes the lives easier of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, whose third scorer has been in flux throughout the season.
Whether that be Russell or Austin Reaves, those two need to be consistent scoring-wise moving forward. Russell continued his hot shooting on Saturday, when he scored 28 points, five assists, three rebounds, one block and a steal.
The question now for the Ohio State product is if this scoring is sustainable, particularly in the playoffs, where he notably underperformed in the Western Conference Finals. But, also if the deadline passes and Russell is still on the Lakers, general manager Rob Pelinka will now have to worry about possibly losing him for nothing or giving him a payday this summer.
D’Angelo Russell wanted to make up for turnovers with big 3-pointer against Warriors
Russell took the gutsiest shot of the game on Saturday in the second overtime. Leading up to that shot, he had two turnovers on back-to-back possessions. Honorably, he wanted to make up for those mistakes by getting L.A. the lead with his clutch 3-pointer and he did exactly that.
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