Last season, D’Angelo Russell had one of the best seasons of his career, shooting a career-high from 3-point range and shattering the Los Angeles Lakers’ franchise record for triples made. In a somewhat surprising move, Russell opted in to the final year of his contract this offseason and has already seemed to establish a great connection with new head coach JJ Redick.
Redick said Russell was the Lakers player he spoke to most over the offseason and added that he told the point guard he wants to put him in position to have a ‘career year.’ In terms of numbers, that would be a tall task considering the season Russell had just a year ago, not to mention previous years where he was a primary scorer for his team and an All-Star.
But Redick recently broke down what a career year looks like in both he and Russell’s eyes and it stretches beyond statistics.
“The thing that DLo and I talked about in terms of what a career year looks like, I think when people hear that they think of production, they think of counting stats,” Redick said. “DLo and I are aligned that that’s not what that means. He has a unique skillset. We think he has a chance to have a high level impact on winning, he’s done that at different points of his career. We also feel like because of his personality and his voice, he can have a real impact in terms of leadership.”
One of the standout moments from Lakers Media Day was Russell apologizing for how he carried himself at times last year. He held himself accountable which is a sign of growth, maturity and leadership and is ready to do whatever he needs to help this Lakers team.
Russell also spoke about improving defensively as he doesn’t like being subbed out for those defensive possessions at the end of games and so far, Redick likes what he has seen from Russell on that end of the floor in training camp.
“Defensively, I told him after practice today I’m not looking for him to be a defensive stopper,” Redick added. “What I’m looking for is a full participant, full engagement. Since he’s been back in the gym and in the first two practices, he’s done that. He’s been fantastic.”
The Lakers have a number of role players whose performance can take this team to another level if they play to their potential. Redick plans on doing his job in putting these players in the position to do just that and Russell is at or near the top of that list.
D’Angelo Russell felt instant connection with new Lakers coach JJ Redick
The connection between D’Angelo Russell and JJ Redick is something that has grown quickly over this offseason and the Lakers point guard revealed that the two just had an immediate connection once they began speaking to each other.
“We had a great conversation leading up to and through free agency,” Russell said. “I just tried to get his information, reach out to him and create some type of rapport and communication, especially if I was returning back. And we just kind of hit it off. I’ve never really connected with him like that, very high IQ guy basketball-wise and personally. I think I gravitated towards that right away.”
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