Only one member of the current Los Angeles Lakers can say they were a teammate of the legendary Kobe Bryant. D’Angelo Russell was drafted second overall by the Lakers in 2015 with his rookie season being Kobe’s final one in the league.
Russell has a connection to Kobe that no one else on the team does having shared a locker room with him, so it truly meant a lot for Russell to see the Bryant statue unveiled last week. Unfortunately, Russell couldn’t play in the game that night due to knee soreness and the Lakers were unable to beat the Denver Nuggets.
Russell would return the next night against the Pelicans and help lead the Lakers to a win with a team-high 30 points. And afterward, he admitted that it was disappointing for him not to be able to help the Lakers the prior night as the love the fans showed to the icon gave him chills.
“Huge,” Russell responded when asked how big it was for the Lakers to get the win after losing on Kobe’s statue night. “Yesterday obviously I wanted to play and be a part of this movement and give the fans what they were begging to see, just to get the win for him. It brought me chills, to be honest.
“I was talking to one of our security guards that was around when he was around and to hear the crowd chant Kobe like that, that was pretty surreal for me and gave me chills. I haven’t heard that since his last game and to get that feeling back was kind of different. Definitely wanted to get the win for him and for our fans as well.”
The love that the Lakers fanbase has for Kobe Bryant is unlike anything in the history of the league. Kobe came into the franchise as a 17-year old kid and grew up in front of our eyes. To say he was beloved would be an understatement and to have him taken away in such a tragic way affected everyone.
Russell wanted to be able to ensure the Lakers got the win on such an important night, but was unable to do so. But he made sure to make up for it the next night and get the Lakers back on track as this season continues on.
D’Angelo Russell’s 30 points led the Lakers in their victory over the the Pelicans and he knocked down six 3-pointers on the night, continuing his sizzling shooting as of late. LeBron James had high praise for the point guard, believing there’s only a handful of people with that ability to pull up from range.
“When you have the ability to shoot the ball like that, you can always keep the defense at bay,” LeBron said about his Lakers teammate. “They never know if you’re gonna shoot, if you’re gonna drive, whatever the case may be. His range is pretty uncanny.
“There’s only a few guys that’s obviously in our league that can come down with the dribble and just raise from anywhere and he’s one of those guys. Once he gets going, you know he can run three or four of them in a streak together.”
