Lakers Player Profile: Get to Know D’Angelo Russell

Dreams do come true, and sometimes it happens quickly and is unexpected. A year ago D’Angelo Russell was graduating high school. He had been a very good player, and his high school team had won a national championship, but he but was not ranked in the top 10 by any major recruiting service, and he barely made the top 20 on Rivals. com. Flash forward one year, and this past week he was selected second in the NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers over the player who had been ranked the number one high school recruit, Jahlil Okafor. Immediately, before playing a second of NBA basketball, he heard the front office compare him to Magic Johnson, Chris Paul, and Steph Curry. Mitch Kupchak went so far as to suggest that his jersey might one day be hanging on the wall with all the legendary Lakers from Elgin Baylor to Shaquille O’Neal.

Russell is 19 years old, born February 23, 1996. He attended Central High School in Louisville, Kentucky for one year then transferred to powerhouse Montverde Academy in Florida for the rest of his high school career, where he teamed with Ben Simmons (who will attend LSU this fall and is ranked the number one high school player in the country). Montverde has won three consecutive high school national championships. When Russell graduated from high school he had an opportunity to attend Louisville, Michigan State, and North Carolina, but chose Ohio State instead. Leaving high school, he was ranked the number 13 player by Scout and ESPN, and number 18 by Rivals.

Russell played only one year at Ohio State but it was a memorable and productive year. Wearing the number “0” on his jersey, he averaged 19.5 points per game on 45% shooting (41% on three-point shots), nearly six rebounds and five assists. He made 76% of his free throws. In Russell’s first college game he scored 16 points, had six assists, and recorded four rebounds. He had 14 rebounds in a game against Maryland. He scored 33 points against Northwestern. On February 8, 2015, he recorded a triple-double, the first freshman to ever do so at Ohio State, scoring 23 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and having 11 assists.

Russell is a strong rebounder for a guard but what caught the attention of many fans and experts alike was his passing. His game is most often described as “smooth, crafty, and deadly.” By February 2015, he was starting to garner a great deal of media attention, and in the end, he was a first team All American and fifth in the voting for the John R.Wooden Award.

By all accounts it was Russell’s two private work-outs that sealed the deal with the Lakers. He impressed the coaching staff and front office both on and off the court. When they saw him play 3 on 3 in the second work-out, the Lakers decided his ball handling skills, court vision, and leadership, were too good to ignore. As the weeks passed leading up to the draft the buzz on Russell among the local and national media grew louder and more passionate. Thus, in the end, the Lakers passed on Okafor instead — who was the number one college recruit in the entire country a year ago and led Duke to the NCAA championship this past spring.

The NBA has become a point guard’s league, and the Lakers have not had a star point guard since Magic Johnson three decades ago. They will be counting on Russell to become not just a star, but a superstar, someone who will lead the team to multiple championships over the next ten years. Those expectations may be premature and awfully lofty for a 19 year old, but there are many who believe he has all the attributes to do just that.

Next: How Kobe, D'Angelo Russell, and Jordan Clarkson Fit With Lakers

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