Once the bond of trust is broken, it can be hard to go back. 20-year-old Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell is currently learning that lesson. Russell’s teammates have reportedly giving him the cold shoulder after video of him secretly recording Nick Young in a conversation about his groupie conquests and Iggy Azalea.
Various Lakers officials are aware of the issue and are dismayed with Russell, sources say, but to this point have chosen not to intervene in how Russell’s actions have been received and handled by his teammates.
“Right now,” one source said, “they’re handling it by isolating him.”
At a recent breakfast meeting, one source said, no Laker would sit with Russell at his table. The source added that, in another instance, Russell came into the locker room and sat next to guard Lou Williams, who got up and walked away.
“It’s bad,” one team source told ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne. “It’s about as bad as it can get. There were trust issues already. Now there’s no trust.”
Iggy tweeted a “thank you” to D’Angelo Tuesday night. The couple had already pushed back the wedding before this news leaked. Could it now be permanently delayed?
The Lakers 48 point loss in Utah on Monday was said to be a result of the tensions on the team.
If I were a betting woman, I’d say that the video was stolen out of his phone and leaked by a woman. Perhaps will finally get the answers to the “why” and “how” soon. I asked the question when the video first leaked how this would impact team chemistry. Russell was expected to be a key piece of the team’s future, now you have to wonder how he will build trust with ANY teammate on ANY team.
