Magic interested in D'Angelo Russell

How did you and Austin Reaves form your bromance? D’Angelo Russell: I think we both honestly were caught in the pickle of how to play next to these guys. You have LeBron, Anthony Davis, and this Lakers whirlwind kind of haunting you always, good or bad, because you’ll be trending for something. When I got here, he was that fresh fruit that was kind of that golden child. I remember being that and going through the ups and downs. I always tried to take pride in preparing him for what was about to come next if I could and help him see what he was going through. We became fans of each other. I said, “You’re going to be here a long time, bro. You might as well take all this in.” I was preparing his mind for all of that. He had a heck of a summer and came in ready to continue to dominate the game. -via HoopsHype / March 28, 2024

Has the birth of Riley and your flow state of mind helped you the past two years? Last year, I was talking to my brother, Tone, and I’m shooting the best numbers I’ve ever shot, and it’s like no one talks about that. That’s what you work towards. People are so analytical nowadays. You work to get to that. Then, I got to it, and it didn’t seem like it was valued. I was like, “Dang, I feel like I could shoot better than that.” This year, I’m shooting career highs again. I’m like, maybe that is tied to the birth of Riley and being a dad. I put the work in. When I broke the record (Lakers single-season 3-pointers made), a lot of my closest people texted me with super sincere messages, and they all had the same common denominator saying, “You put the work in.” That made me smile even more because people around me know how hard I work and how I approach the game. -via HoopsHype / March 28, 2024

How are LeBron James and Kobe Bryant similar and different from your experiences with both? D’Angelo Russell: I played with Kobe on his way out, and I’m playing with LeBron, who I still think is at the tip of his prime. Not his prime, but you get better the older you get in some cases. I feel like he’s still getting better in the sense of having to do more with less athleticism, obviously. It shows every aspect of his game, his shooting and post game. I got Kobe on the way out. The language he spoke was foreign to me at that time. I couldn’t relate to a lot of stuff that he was saying, but he would always talk to me about it as if I knew. The older I got, the stuff would click, and I’d say, “Dang, I remember him saying that.” Growing up a fan of LeBron, I was always searching for wisdom from him, asking him questions and trying to pick his brain on how I could be better. That’s how I was with Kobe. I wasn’t shy to ask questions ever. I always gravitated towards the ones people were scared to ask those questions. They both gave me very detailed orientated answers that allowed me to get better. When I was here earlier, we weren’t winning games. Now I’m here playing with LeBron, and we’re trying to win games. That’s a completely different thing on its own. -via HoopsHype / March 28, 2024