D'Angelo Russell Reportedly Being Isolated by Teammates After Taping Nick Young

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D'Angelo Russell Reportedly Being Isolated by Teammates After Taping Nick Young


By Alec Nathan , Featured Columnist

Mar 30, 2016





D'Angelo Russell Reportedly Being Isolated by Teammates After Taping Nick YoungJuan Ocampo/Getty Images




Los Angeles Lakers rookie D'Angelo Russell is reportedly in a heap of trouble. A video emerged Tuesday allegedly showing him secretly videotaping and recording a conversation in which he asked teammate Nick Young questions about being with other women, according to ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes and Marc Stein.

"Russell and Young are friends but the video, which was surreptitiously shot a couple of months ago according to a person with knowledge of it, could drive a wedge between them," reported the Los Angeles Times' Mike Bresnahan.

Young famously got engaged to Australian rapper Iggy Azalea last summer.

Citing sources, Holmes and Stein reported that "trust in Russell is eroding" from some teammates now that the video has gone public. Sources also told the two reporters "Lakers officials are aware of the issue and are dismayed with Russell."

"Right now, they're handling it by isolating him," a source told Holmes and Stein.

According to Holmes and Stein, Russell can be heard on the video at one point asking Young, "You was 30 and she was 19?" with regard to a woman he met out one evening at a nightclub. The report also mentions that Russell can reportedly be heard asking, "What about Amber Rose?" before Young responded, "No, she knows my girl."




A source also told Holmes and Stein locker room trust in Russell has nosedived to the point that none of the rookie's teammates would sit with him at a recent breakfast meeting.

Azalea responded on Twitter after the report was made public:

IGGY AZALEA ✔ ‎@IGGYAZALEA
hmmm i see D Angelo Russell is trending... I actually liked his film. Thanks bro.
12:38 AM - 30 Mar 2016
 10,494 10,494 Retweets   10,147 10,147 likes


The reported incident comes on the heels of a string of comments from head coach Byron Scott, who has repeatedly discussed Russell's immaturity in not-so-glowing terms.

"D’Angelo still has a playfulness about him," Scott said on Feb. 11, per Holmes. "Sometimes in practice he’s joking around and losing a little bit of focus. But he’s 19. I understand that. Chris Paul was probably like 23 years old by the time he came into the league in his mental capacity."

Earlier in February, Scott told reporters, "He's such a kid," according to Bresnahan. "I told him the other day, 'You're 19 but sometimes I think you're 14.'"

The Lakers—who are on pace to finish with the worst record in team history—tied a franchise record with a 48-point loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday evening, in which Russell scored five points on 2-of-11 shooting.

The Ohio State product has encountered a statistical backslide of late, and Monday's showing encapsulated the woes that have plagued him in recent weeks. Over his last 10 games, Russell is averaging 13.2 points and 2.3 assists while shooting 37.8 percent from the field.



bob
MY NOTE:  You're not in college anymore and it wasn't a dorm room, kid.  Pretty stupid and immature. The downside of drafting underclassmen is that they really are kids and the NBA is a man's league.  Fortunately for him and the Lakers we are at the end of the season and they are not going to the playoffs.  If this happened earlier in the year, or if they had a chance at making some noise in the playoffs, then this would be extremely destructive.  It's not Young so much, whom I think is gone after this year, but Randle and Clarkson and all the other players who will not be gone next year.  Trust and respect, once lost, is very difficult to regain.  Russell is being ostracized, according to reports, by the team.  He should address it head on by offering an apology to the entire team and not just Young on the side.

That sound you just heard was Kobe's eyes rolling up into his head like a window blind spring-rolling up.  Kobe's trying to mellow out and go out with class, otherwise I think we'd see him give Russell his death-stare.  I remember when Kobe went on Jay Leno and was asked about the Lakers celebrating about a regular season victory over the Celtics like they just won the Championship.  Kobe looked like he just ate something very unpleasant and said something, to the effect of, "teams that only have (however many wins they had at the time) shouldn't be celebrating anything".  Kobe famously said Pau Gasol, a fellow Champion, should "put on his big boy pants".  I can just imagine what he said to Russell about this.


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This was a really dumb thing to do by D'Angelo.
If a veteran and professional like Lou Williams won't eat at your table, you know you screwed up.
Hopefully D'Angelo has gone to great lengths to make this right with his teammates.
I am sure people higher than Byron Scott had a lot to say to D'Angelo about this.
Will this be a long term problem? Most likely not.
Nick was the victim here (and his fiancée), but I think we have seen the last of Nick Young in a Lakers uniform. I would bet that he is traded in the off-season (with cash and a draft pick) or waived via the stretch provision.

http://nypost.com/2016/03/30/lakers-rookie-records-nick-youngs-iggy-azalea-cheating-confession/

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-ln-dangelo-russell-nick-young-iggy-azalea-20160330-story.html


bob


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Sorry, that is just a douche-move by Russell. I don't buy that it has anything to do with his age. I would have known not to do that in junior high or younger. Its just so sneaky and sleazy - not sure anyone in the nba will trust him again, and this might affect his career. Hard to come back from something like this...

bobheckler wrote:http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-ln-dangelo-russell-nick-young-iggy-azalea-20160330-story.html


bob


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Bob - When you post links to LA Times articles no one can read them unless you're a paid subscriber to that paper.

steve3344 wrote:

bobheckler wrote:http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-ln-dangelo-russell-nick-young-iggy-azalea-20160330-story.html


bob


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Bob - When you post links to LA Times articles no one can read them unless you're a paid subscriber to that paper.

Steve,

I can access that article and I am not a suscriber.


bob


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bobheckler wrote:

steve3344 wrote:

bobheckler wrote:http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-ln-dangelo-russell-nick-young-iggy-azalea-20160330-story.html


bob


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Bob - When you post links to LA Times articles no one can read them unless you're a paid subscriber to that paper.

Steve,

I can access that article and I am not a suscriber.


bob


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It tells me I need to subscribe and the first ten days are $0.99. After that it's $4.99 a week.