D’Angelo Russell says the Lakers are prioritizing structure this season

Under JJ Redick, the Lakers are embracing not just a new coach but a new approach entirely by adding a structure to the franchise, something D’Angelo Russell says is a welcome addition.

The Lakers have had a lot of coaching turnover across the last decade. On one hand, that means fans are pretty familiar with the process of bringing in a new head coach. On the other hand, it also means everyone can tell that JJ Redick’s tenure has already felt different.

While previous coaches have come into the Lakers’ mess and tried to make the best of it, Redick has brought with him a change of culture that the front office has bought into. It obviously remains to be seen whether it will work, but the players are taking notice of how different things are.

No one may be better suited to talk about the differences of this season than D’Angelo Russell. Across his two tenures in Los Angeles, D’Lo has had four different coaches.

So, on Media Day in an interview on ESPN LA, when D’Lo said there’s a structure within the franchise that hasn’t previously been there, it should probably stick out.

“I think structure is what teams need,” Russell said. “When you get it in college and then you get to the NBA, you may go to an organization that doesn’t give you that. And for the Lakers, that’s not really been their priority over the past. So to have that, you feel it, you feel it now. So it’s, that’s a good feeling to have that now. For the young kids, it’s even better.”

While this could be interpreted as a shot at Darvin Ham, especially considering D’Lo spent most of Media Day doing that, this doesn’t feel like that type of comment.

Think about how much D’Lo has seen in his four-plus seasons in Los Angeles. He’s played under Byron Scott, Luke Walton, Ham and Redick while having front offices led by Mitch Kupchak and Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka. And that doesn’t even account for all the other turnover throughout the franchise in that span, too.

He’s seen lots of versions of the Lakers, so to talk so highly of this one is interesting. And if you dig deeper into his comments, there’s some validity there as well. Franchises that operate with structure are the ones regularly successful.

Look at the Warriors, who created a dynasty under Steve Kerr. Pat Riley and the Heat haven’t had quite as much success, but they definitely have structure.

The Lakers are aiming to have their own structure and unity within the franchise for the first time in...a long time at the very least. Ideas don’t always come to fruition, but the Lakers are taking the right steps early in Redick’s tenure.