Los Angeles Lakers fans probably feel that they have already heard or read all there is to know about D'Angelo Russell after his two stints with the franchise.
It's funny how quickly that can change from a single interview. That is the reality that fans of the Purple and Gold are seeing play out as Russell tossed his former franchise and its coaches under the bus when comparing how the Lakers approach the business of playing winning basketball to the Brooklyn Nets.
Interestingly enough, Russell feels that the structure in place in Brooklyn far exceeded anything he encountered during his time in Los Angeles. The former Ohio State Buckeyes standout credits that structure from the Nets for teaching him the right way to grow as a basketball player and as a person.
“I came from the Lakers where the structure is not the same, and then I go to Brooklyn where it’s all structure and it taught me how to be a professional.” 👀
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 6, 2025
- D’Angelo Russell
(🎥 @wynetwork )
pic.twitter.com/qz7AKacgWH
D'Angelo Russell Throws Shade at the Lakers After Signing With Mavs
"I came from the Lakers where the structure is not the same," Russell said during an appearance on the Wy Network hosted by Dwyane Wade. "And then I go to Brooklyn where it’s all structure and it taught me how to be a professional."
Being a top rookie in a city like Los Angeles is going to be a lot for any young player to handle. New York City, being the beacon of light that showed Russell how to be a professional, is surprising, though, as it offers all of the same distractions as Los Angeles does.
This is where Russell's comments concerning the structure offered by the respective franchises get intriguing. Mitch Kupchak was the Lakers' GM when Russell was drafted. He was traded two years later by a front office led by Kupchak's successor, Magic Johnson. Johnson then drafted Lonzo Ball and propped him up as the franchise's next great floor general. A decision that backfired tremendously.
To suggest the structure in place in Los Angeles during those early years of Russell's career wasn't conducive to his growth as a player, something we saw almost immediately following his trade to Brooklyn, is telling and should not be ignored. For Russell to say this himself backs up what the numbers show.
The saving grace for Lakers fans is that there seems to be a greater sense of the need for a structured environment in Los Angeles from the people in power now than there was a decade ago when Russell entered the league.