New Dallas Mavericks point guard D’Angelo Russell, who had two unsuccessful stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, has thrown shade on his former team.
While speaking to Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade on the Wy Network, Russell, who joined the Lakers as a teenager, revealed he learned how to become a professional only after being traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 2017.
Russell revealed he didn’t thrive in his first two years in the league, as the Lakers didn’t teach him the proper habits.
“The organization of Brooklyn is different,” Russell stressed. “It’s unlike any other. The performance, team, coach — everything about Brooklyn is different than what you would expect. And I’ve been around the league, where I came from the Lakers, where the structure is not the same.”
Laments Lack of Lakers Structure
“Then I got to Brooklyn, where it’s all structure, and it taught me how to be a professional,” Russell said, comparing his time with the Nets to the Lakers.
“I always approached the game to where I was nonchalant, and I felt like I could just wing it. They taught me how to be a professional, how to sleep, how to eat, how to recover.”
In fairness to Russell, he did thrive in Brooklyn, where he made his first and only All-Star appearance in the 2018-19 season, averaging 21.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 7.0 assists.
“That’s why I’m still playing to this day,” he said, reflecting on his stint with the Nets. “I’m not a guy that’s athletic, I had to take care of my body, I had to recover, I had to eat the best way. I couldn’t just show up. And that’s what Brooklyn really taught me.”
Kyrie Irving’s Replacement in Dallas
Incidentally, the Lakers once again traded D’Angelo Russell to the Nets last season as part of the Dorian Finney-Smith trade.
This offseason, he signed with the Mavericks on a two-year, $13 million deal. Russell is expected to be the team’s starting point guard until the return of the injured Kyrie Irving, who is set to miss a chunk of the season recovering from an ACL tear.
There have been conflicting reports on when Irving could return to the Mavericks. Some insiders have suggested that the dynamic guard could return by January, but Irving himself has cautioned against such an expectation.
“Don’t hold your breath on that,” Irving said of his return to the court in the 2025-25 season. “It doesn’t mean that I won’t be back … I don’t want to make any predictions on when I’m going to be back. I just want to be back 150,000 percent better.”
