LOS ANGELES – If there’s one player on the Los Angeles Lakers’ roster who is used to hearing his name in trade rumors, it’s D’Angelo Russell. As recently as this offseason when Russell opted in to his contract, he still was being mentioned as a potential trade candidate.
But training camp and preseason is about to get underway and Russell remains a Laker. Perhaps that’s why when he took a seat at the podium on media day, he greeted assembled media with a, ‘surprise, surprise.’
It can be taxing on the mind for player to have to deal with constant trade chatter while trying to focus on the task at hand. Russell spoke about leaning on his confidence whenever things pop up during the season.
“I think just kind of trust in my craft, knowing that I’m a problem for an opposing team. . .team’s know what I’m capable of so I just keep that in the back of my mind knowing that I’m dangerous,” Russell said. “And keeping my confidence high throughout the ups and downs of the season. I think throughout adversity you get to really see the character of people. And I always try to hold my head high through adversity and always come out with confidence.”
D’Angelo Russell certainly is no stranger to trade talks. After all, he’s been traded four times in his career already. The most recent trade was during the 2022-23 season when the Minnesota Timberwolves traded him to the Lakers, reuniting him with the franchise the originally drafted him back in 2015.
Russell revealed that he actually tends to stay ahead of any trade chatter or media talk about him due to the people in his immediate circle.
“The people around me, I think my people around me are brutally honest,” Russell said. “So before I leave the house, I hear what’s trending about me. So my folks will say that before it’s kind of trending so I think that’s a positive.”
If the Lakers hope to contend this season, they will need D’Angelo Russell to be at his best. This past season, he appeared in 76 games, including 69 starts, at a little over 32 minutes per game. He averaged 18.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists with splits of 45.6 percent shooting from the field, 41.5 percent shooting from the three-point line and 82.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
