D’Angelo Russell has etched his name in Los Angeles Lakers history forever, breaking Nick Van Exel’s franchise record for most 3-pointers in a season.
Russell has been having a career year from deep, particularly in the last couple of months. He made six triples during Monday night’s win over the Atlanta Hawks, tying Van Exel’s record in 1994-95 at 183 made 3s on the year. Kobe Bryant was next on the list at 18- made 3s in 2005-06, followed again by Van Exel with 177 in 1996-97.
That meant that Russell went into Friday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers needing just one triple to break the tie and stand alone in Lakers history. He was able to make one about midway through the first quarter from the left wing:
The moment @Dloading etched his name in the Lakers' record books.
(?: @NBATV) pic.twitter.com/Kt1dcun4XM
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) March 23, 2024
This is a great moment for Russell, who was drafted second overall by the Lakers in 2015 out of Ohio State. After bouncing around the league a bit, Russell found himself back in L.A. at the trade deadline last season and has made the most of his second stint.
After tying Van Exel’s record on Monday, Russell spoke on what this means to him.
“That’s really cool. Honestly, just to know that, to get credit for it,” Russell said. “It’s just really cool. I said I don’t want to underdo it, understate it, overdo it. I just think it’s really cool to just be a part of something like that. I think I did something like that in Brooklyn as well. Just get credit for your game and what you work to do and showcase it every night, just to get credit for something like this, it’s really cool.”
Russell also recently stated his desire to not only break the record, but shatter it, and now he will have 12-plus games to accomplish that.
D’Angelo Russell explains catch-and-shoot improvements
One of the reasons that Russell has been so prolific from deep this season has been because of his improved catch-and-shoot numbers, and he explained how he has been able to do that.
“At Ohio State, I was the opposite,” Russell said. “I didn’t really get a lot of catch-and-shoots. I had the ball in my hands a lot. I give credit to being traded. When you get traded, you’re in situations, opportunities. I remember in Minnesota, I had a bunch of just star power around be with Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, guys like that. So for me, playing with those guys, I knew the ball wasn’t gonna be in my hands.
“So I had to add a catch-and-shoot to my game, and that’s when I got the work in at practices. Then when I got here, I was ready to catch-and-shoot on top of being able to shoot off the dribble.”
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