D'Angelo Russell Takes Veiled Shot at Darvin Ham After Lakers' Loss to Kings
D'Angelo Russell hasn't been shy about making headlines recently, and this "f--- it" attitude seems to be reaching new heights. Everyone was frustrated after the Los Angeles Lakers' ugly loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, but Russell went a step further than most players will take things.
Russell didn't directly insult head coach Darvin Ham, but he sent his message loud and clear anyway. He was clearly unhappy with Ham's gameplanning decisions.
When asked why the Lakers didn't involve Rui more in the 2nd half, a frustrated DLo said "he rather not go there with it" pic.twitter.com/W56wQtoQLB
— KF (@klutchfamilia) March 14, 2024
In case you thought this was at all ambiguous, DLo also gave praise to Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown during the presser
Fans certainly share Russell's frustrations too. Hachimura looked unstoppable, dropping 20 on 9-of-11 shooting. But instead of feeding the mismatches down low, Ham called up play after play for Anthony Davis, who knocked down just 7 of his team-high 18 field goal attempts.
Frustrations are obviously high in L.A., but at this point it's almost a good thing. Ranking just 12th in the NBA Championship odds, there's a risk that the frustration simply turns to apathy. At that point, if everyone starts giving up on the season, then the Lakers are really cooked.
At this point it's hard to imagine Russell picking up his $18.7 million player option for the 2024-25 season, and if Ham stays you can all but guarantee that DLo won't.
But turning our attention back to the present, the Lakers sit ninth in the west at 36-31, having won three of their last five. Fans in L.A. won't be holding their breath expecting a deep playoff run at this point, but missing the playoffs altogether could really cause some issues.
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