Lakers’ point guard, D’Angelo Russell was recently interviewed by SLAM Magazine where he talked about Luke Walton, Kobe Bryant and rookie, Brandon Ingram
D’Angelo Russell has been one of the many Lakers who has been extremely vocal about singing the praises of his new head coach, Luke Walton and the tune was no different in his newest interview with SLAM Magazine.
Calling him a “great dude on and off the court” despite maintaining that the reason he’s so crazy about Walton is that he, “feel like everybody is all in and with his demeanor, mentality and the way he carries himself, the way he supports us, the way he is as a coach,” it’s not a stretch to say that Russell would be equally excited for any coach not named Byron Scott.
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That said, while Russell’s opinions on Walton are relatively old news at this point, the sophomore point guard also had some interesting things to say about rookie, Brandon Ingram.
Russell, as well as Julius Randle, had extra time to get to know Ingram this summer during the USA Select Team’s mini camp, though Randle has yet to speak on the subject.
When asked what his relationship with the Duke product has been like so far, Russell answered, “That’s my guy! I think he’s going to be successful in this League. He’s a funny dude and is real quiet ’til you really get to know him.”
Further, the real gold came when he talked about what advice he has for him heading into his rookie year:
"I told him to embrace the pressure. What he’s going through now is what I went through as far as being the No. 2 pick, all the attention is on you and everybody wanting to see what you can do. Now I look back on what I went through last year and I was like, ‘That was the pressure I had?’ And I kind of didn’t embrace it. Embrace it, like, go get it and go attack it. That’s what I tell him—to go have way more success in your first year than I had."
The hope is that Brandon Ingram takes this message in stride and he appears to be doing just that, working out with the team on every occasion he gets.
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The entire Lakers’ squad seems to know that next year is an immensely important time for the team to rebuild their fallen foundation but also look to be fully set on shattering the low ceiling that has already been placed on them, and that could serve as the perfect storm to surprise some teams come season.