Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell is rumored to want to play for the Lithuanian national team at the 2028 Olympics in L.A. If that ends up being the case then he can get some advice from former Lakers guard Lonnie Walker IV, who currently plays professionally in Lithuania after leaving the NBA this offseason.
Walker and Russell played together for the Lakers in the second half of the 2022-23 season after the latter was traded to L.A. at that season’s trade deadline. They played with each other during the unexpected run to the Western Conference Finals as the No. 7 seed, with both having incredible postseason moments.
So when Walker was asked about the possibility of Russell playing for the Lithuania national team in 2028, he thinks it would be a good fit as the Lakers guard was one of his favorite teammates, according to Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews:
“Russell is one heck of a player. He’s a well-respected point guard. He’s great. He’s one of my favorite teammates. Even when I had my Game 4 against the Warriors, and I didn’t score a bucket, going into the 4th quarter, he called it out himself.
“He was one of the first players to say, ‘Yo, this is your quarter.’ Somehow, his energy and his manifestation got instilled into me, so a big shout out to D-Lo in that moment. He’s a terrific player. He’s a terrific teammate.
“Even when things aren’t going his way, he doesn’t waver, he doesn’t change his personality. He’s always gonna be a great teammate, cheering for you, and it’s always love at the end of the day. There’s no selfish act and selfishness with D-Lo, and teammates like that. It’s hard to come by,” Walker continued.
Walker’s fourth quarter in Game 4 against the Golden State Warriors was one of the most memorable moments of the entire season for L.A. Walker came out of nowhere to steal a pivotal game away from the Golden State Warriors and help the Lakers get one step closer to a place in the conference finals.
And it seems motivation from Russell was part of the reason for Walker being able to have that moment at all, which is cool to hear from the latter years later.
D’Angelo Russell has overlooked performances
D’Angelo Russell lost his place in the Lakers’ starting lineup earlier this season, but has been effective in a bench role thus far. He didn’t do much in terms of scoring on Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz (eight points on 2-for-8 shooting), but he was legitimately impactful in all other phases of the game.
Russell had six rebounds, six assists — most of them to Knecht during his hot streak — and added both a steal and a block in the process. Redick spoke about Russell’s performance and what impressed him.
“I thought, you know, they tried to run that zone and he kind of shot them out of it,” Redick said of Knecht. “But that was all DLo (D’Angelo Russell).”
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