Following his dominant, monster game on Friday night, D’Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers had a message for everyone who doubted and spoke out against him and expected the very worst from him.
“Public humiliation has done nothing but molded me into the killer that y’all see today,” Russell said, according to Bleacher Report.
Former NFL star Le’Veon Bell loved that statement from Russell and showed his support on Twitter, saying: “let the doubt fuel you.”
let the doubt fuel you 😤 https://t.co/YMUuBlZ85b
— Le’Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) March 9, 2024
There was certainly a lot of doubt surrounding Russell throughout the 2023-24 season.
It wasn’t that he was playing poorly earlier in the year, but he just wasn’t playing well enough.
For a brief time, head coach Darvin Ham shifted Russell to the bench.
That move to the second unit, as well as a brief injury, apparently shook Russell up in the best way.
Since coming back into the starting lineup, Russell has looked motivated, strong, smart, and very tuned in to his teammates.
The Lakers have still faced their fair share of struggles, of course.
They remain only the ninth seed in the Western Conference.
But Russell has been one of the only truly reliable parts of the roster and has averaged 22.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 6.4 assists since coming back into the starting lineup in January.
His shooting has greatly improved during that time too and Russell has clearly found confidence in his shot, going 47.9% from the field and 45.8% from the three-point line.
There was a lot of bad press and negative comments about Russell earlier in the year.
This statement from him proves that he heard them all.
But instead of getting angry about them, he got inspired instead.
Now he is playing his best basketball in years and leading his team to incredible wins like the one against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.
NEXT:
Lakers Have Gotten Major Wins Without Their Stars On The Court
