What most casual fans don’t always realize is that while the NBA is first and foremost a sports league, it is also one big business. Teams are basically brands owned by billionaires, and everything associated with them, including players, are pretty much assets that is utilized for the betterment of the brand. Hardcore NBA fans however understand this, and have become more obsessed with the business side of the Association in recent years.
One unfortunate example of how players are basically assets used to improve the state of a team is the LA Lakers‘ trading of D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets in June 2017 as a “sweetener” to dump Timofey Mozgov‘s toxic contract in order for the Purple-and-Gold to gain financial flexibility during free agency in the summer of 2018. That, and other salary-dumping moves, eventually led to the Lakers signing the greatest basketball player today (and arguably of all-time), LeBron James. Sure, salty Lakers fans (including myself) eventually got over Russell getting shipped to Brooklyn — having LeBron play for your team solves many ill-feelings, it turns out — many are still actively rooting for DLo in the Nets, and lately he has been killing it.
In fact, D’Angelo Russell has been balling so hard, he was just announced as an All-Star reserve, replacing injured Indiana Pacers star Victor Oladipo to play in the 2019 All-Star Game in Charlotte. I couldn’t be happier for DLo, who was my favorite post-Kobe retirement player.
I had high hopes for Russell on the Lakers, and while his play has been inconsistent for the most part in his two years in Los Angeles, he showed flashes of brilliance that made him the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. But Lakers President Magic Johnson, who took over Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak (the ones responsible for drafting Russell) in February 2017, had other plans. He traded Russell and Mozgov, all the while implying the former as someone who is not a leader, then drafted Lonzo Ball in June 2017.
Russell was not popular with the fans as well, with many calling him a bust and a “snitch”. The snitch thing is in response to DLo’s recording of a video clip that caught former Laker teammate Nick Young admitting to committing affairs behind his fiance, rapper Iggy Azalea’s back. People defended the cheater and hated the dumb kid who likes to Snapchat things (like most of us) because of course. (Side note: Russell claims he doesn’t know how the video became public.)
But look at DLo now. He is having career-high numbers across the board, averaging 19.6 points, 6.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, and a 19.1 Player Efficiency Rating (PER). The League average is 15.0. In January, Russell’s terrific stretch helped the Nets acquire an 11-4 record, going undefeated at home. DLo averaged 23.8 points, 7.3 assists, 1.3 steals per game in January while shooting 41.3% from three. That strong play earned him a berth in the All-Star game.
As a D’Angelo Russell fan, I am elated that he is named an All-Star. The fact that he’s from the Eastern Conference where the star power isn’t as strong as that of the West doesn’t diminish this accomplishment. He deserves to be at the annual event because of his strong play, period.
The same people who called him a bust are now singing his praises (looking at you, NBA Twitter). This is total vindication for the guy, and I sincerely hope he continues to improve. DLo will be a restricted free agent in the summer, so it will be interesting to see what kind of offers he’s getting now that he is a bona fide All-Star.
I will be rooting for him every step of the way.
patrickkennan.com 