D'Angelo Russell Needs To Grow Up Fast, Lakers Need To Help Him

D'Angelo Russell messed up. There is no other way to put it. He messed up big time, to the point where no one is defending his actions. When he leaked a video of fellow Laker Nick Young discussing cheating on fiancee Iggy Azalea, he broke “guy code” and violated the privacy of a teammate, both big-time no-nos in the NBA.

While everyone is ripping him, we should probably remember that Russell just turned 20 and was bound to make stupid mistakes before he fully matured. That’s the thing though, he’s still a kid. Being the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft and getting handed millions of dollars doesn’t all of a sudden make you an adult. Russell spent less than a year in college and probably hasn’t run into any situations in his life where he wasn’t treated like a future superstar. The Lakers shouldn’t be “isolating” him, as multiple reports suggest they are doing, they should be educating him.

What started out as a stupid prank to pull on Young has quickly spiraled out of control. Yes, Young has a right to be upset that his teammate put the video out there in the world. The rest of the roster has a right to feel skittish about engaging Russell because he made a private conversation public. But this high school crap of not sitting with him and getting up and walking away when he’s in the room is just foolish.

This is where guys like Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest Metta World Peace and former players like Magic Johnson and James Worthy (who both still have deep ties to the team) need to step up as mentors for Russell. Obviously he didn’t mean for this to become a huge deal, Bryant and others need to take him aside and essentially tell him it’s time to grow up and be a man. If he can get the backing of former stars and someone like Bryant, then apologize to Young and the rest of his teammates, this episode will turn out to be a regrettable but ultimately a blip on the radar. It will also serve as a chance to Russell to move forward and prove himself a good teammate. The Lakers brass has to be proactive here and shut this down as quickly as possible.

Despite what some have suggested, the Lakers aren’t going to trade Russell. If they did, there would be zero chance of him coming cheap. They view him as a future superstar and we’ve gotten glimpses of how great he can be numerous times during the second half of this season.

With Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., and Anthony Brown all in their first and second seasons, the Lakers have a really nice young core for Russell to grow up with. The key is ensuring that he does grow up, and fast. As soon as Bryant retires, this franchise will essentially be handed over to Russell and the rest of those young guys. He has to prove he’s worthy of that trust. The Lakers front office and the team’s veterans will be the key to making that happen.