Returning to a place can be startling. You’re met by the realization that not much has changed, but you’ve changed entirely.
D’Angelo Russell arrived in Los Angeles at 19 years old as a rookie on the Lakers. He was a decent three-point shooter with playmaking potential who averaged 1.5 steals a game. Nine seasons later, he’s an assassin from the arc; he’ll make you pay from all over the floor as he’s been hitting 45.9% of shots from the field this season. And his playmaking is no longer just potential. His passing has become a legitimate craft as he averages 7.1 assists, one percent less than his teammate and the NBA’s fourth all-time leader in dimes, LeBron James.
Russell first became a Laker ten years ago when Los Angeles picked him second overall in the 2015 NBA Draft. He was traded after two seasons and bounced around the league between three different teams until last year when he returned to the Lakers during the most active trade deadline in the team’s History.
The lefty point guard rejoined Los Angeles and was an avid contributor in changing the trajectory of the Lakers season from a team that originally had a .3% chance of making the Playoffs to a team that forged their way into the Western Conference Finals.
Even so, when this year’s free agency period rolled around, people outside of Russell's orbit speculated about his future. He was unflappable. He was stone cold. Russell said, “I don't care at all. I’m going to show up to work. That’s it. I can’t control that my contract makes sense to be traded. I can’t control that. I can just play.”
Eventually in life you realize there are only so many constants, only so many things you can control, only so many things you can find stability in. And for Russell, his constant has always been playing basketball.
“I know my credibility,” Russell confirmed. “I know what I’m capable of, I never forget it; I’ll never forget it. My confidence will always be high. And I’ll walk like that, talk like that, and try to play like that too.”
After suffering a tailbone injury that sidelined him for three games at the end of December and early January, Russell hit the floor again on January 7, 2024. From that point until the trade deadline on February 8, 2024, he averaged 22.2 points, 6.4 assists, and shot 44.9% from three-point range. He responded to uncertainty with blatant confidence.
“Nothing changes,” Russell said about how he was feeling after the trade deadline. “Emotionless, still.”
The world watched in awe as D’Angelo gave adversity the cold shoulder. He hit scrutiny with the silent treatment. Everyone wondered “How?” Was his performance ruled by frustration? Inspired by proving people wrong? Everyone asked “DLo” for answers, but his response was simple, “I can always control my own energy,” he said. “It’s just coming in and playing hard, I don’t think there’s a play you can draw up to play hard. For me, it’s continuing to chip away day by day, it’s just who I am. I play hard, I’ve always played like that. It’s just a part of me I guess.”
He’s talked a lot about “flow state” this season, a mode where the body and mind are connected, focused beyond the point of distraction. Russell explained how he enters this mode often on the floor. It’s a place where he feels nothing and thinks about nothing. He used to be a player who overprepared, overwatched film, overthought, overshot. He used to be a player who tried to outthink the game. But he recently began studying psychology, specifically flow state, and now he’s a player who finds composure and confidence in preparation.
“Honestly there’s no thought, there’s no extra will,” he said. “I’ve just found a pocket that I can reach my flow state around these guys in the game. When I’m out there I’m not thinking about anything, I’m not thinking about scoring 20 points consecutively, in 12 games, and all that extra, I really just play; these are the results.”
D’Angelo carries himself with an evenness. It’s clear he cares about basketball. He cares about his teammates. He cares about hooping. But he doesn’t need validation. He doesn’t let his value waver—ever. That’s hard. But it’s important—a skill most people go their whole lives without practicing. “For me to care about what people say about me now after people have been wrong about me for so long, I don’t care regardless—even for the praise. I just don’t care,” Russell said.
With the highs and lows that come with being a professional athlete, Russell’s unapologetic demeanor is something his younger teammates look up to. And where he was once one of those young guys, now he’s a leader on this team.
D’Angelo credits his leadership to that of 2X NBA Champion, Rajon Rondo. Rondo and Russell had the same high school coach, Doug Bibby, back in Louisville, Kentucky. “We come from the same backyard,” Russell explained. Coach Bibby instilled confidence at a young age and “sprinkled the same sauce,” on each of them.
When D’Angelo was in ninth grade, Rondo used to come to practice and pick him up full court. Rondo left for boarding school the next year, but he had laid the blueprint for young players coming out of Kentucky. “I wanted to follow that,” Russell explained.
He did. DLo’s a pro who recognizes what his teammates need. “I just notice throughout the game or throughout the organization the players that need a little confidence, a little battery in their back. I feel the most confident, good, bad, or in-between kind of games—always. On my way home, I don’t lose confidence. So, finding ways to sprinkle that on young players whenever I can or recognizing when someone might need it, I just keep those words of encouragement going and I keep being selfless, I think it’s contagious,” he said.
D’Angelo’s demeanor has been a big reason he’s forged relationships with his teammates, especially, he and Austin Reaves, who have developed a close friendship. They have similarities in their games, they share a love of golf, and they often do their postgame press conferences as a duo.
“It’s a beautiful thing. I like the way he plays the game,” AR commented on Russell's approach. “He’s one of the smoothest players I’ve ever seen and been around. It’s a testament to what he does when nobody’s watching.”
This is D’Angelo Russell. But has it always been? When you return to the place you started, maybe it’s startling because you reflect on how much you’ve changed and because you can see now how everything you’ve achieved has always been inside of you.
All the dreams and goals he had a decade ago are real now and he made them happen. Russell launched his own podcast, The Backyard, to share his truth and reflect on his journey. He’s joined the NBA’s 10,000-point club. He’s made Lakers History with the most three-pointers in a season, 208 and counting. And he’s become a father.
Countless times this season, fans have watched Russell scoop up his son, Riley, and have him on his hip while doing the postgame presser. His teammates have been gathered in the locker room and joined by D’Angelo and Riley after the game. Riley’s first birthday party was Lakers themed. His family and basketball, these are his constants right now. Everything else is just noise.
As for what he’ll do next, “I’m preparing myself for what he’s going to see,” D’Angelo said of his son. “I try to prepare myself to be the person I may have not had, or I know that I wanted to have. Everything is based around him now, he’s added structure. I plan out things now and I was never that guy.”
