D’Angelo Russell on Why He’s Mad at Lakers and Not Warriors or Nets for Trading Him: “Magic Kicked Me on My A** on the Way Out”

D’Angelo Russell is undoubtedly an All-Star caliber talent who has gone through the Lakers, Nets, and Warriors before coming to the Timberwolves. All these teams are currently contending for the NBA Championship this season and are among the favorites to bag it. Therefore, it shows that in the near past, these franchises felt D’Angelo is that player who they can build around.

Makes you wonder, why a championship-level talent was just tossed out of three high-caliber franchises. However, Russell does not have a chip on his shoulder about the Nets or Warriors. Whereas, he has one against the Lakers, because of the NBA Legend Magic Johnson.

D’Angelo Russell once thrashed Magic Johnson for trading him

When D’Angelo Russell appeared on ‘the Old Man and The Three’, he opened up about his trades from premier franchises like Warriors, Nets, and Lakers. He admitted he does not have a chip on his shoulder about the Warriors or Nets.

Also Read: Warriors Coach Steve Kerr Once Claimed Even Michael Jordan Can’t Match Massive Klay Thompson Feat: “I Never Saw Him Do That”

However, for the Lakers, he said, “Hell yeah sh*t, only LA because Magic kicked me in my a** on the way out. And I was just, I didn’t understand that, I was just, you know kind of young and naive to why and like what was the point. But I mean it is what it is and that’s another thing I just couldn’t control. But I understood the business side of the league man. Once you have that title on you there’s no getting it off. You just kind of got to create a new headline for them to forget what that headline was in the past and it was what it was..” 

What did this mean for D’Angelo Russell’s NBA Career? (Nets, Warriors and Timberwolves)

D’Angelo Russell will host his former team, the Warriors. The Timberwolves are coming off a close victory vs Trail Blazers where Anthony Edwards took off for a 40 point performance. However, if it were not for the support from D’Angelo Russell who also dropped 22 points in the same game, Timberwolves would’ve lost.

D’Angelo Russell is currently averaging almost 20 points per game with nearly 7 assists per game in this regular season. This shows that the former All-Star has come to his own to become the primary playmaker on a championship-contending team. He might not have found his groove with the Warriors or Nets, but he certainly has found it with Minnesota.

Also Read: Scottie Pippen Once Trashed Kyrie Irving for Joining Nets and Not LeBron James’ Lakers: “Bad Teams Find a Way to Lose”

Fans may not feel that he’s the franchise player at Timberwolves (since Karl-Anthony Towns exists). But it is an undeniable fact that this team has only qualified as a championship-contending level team since D’Lo joined. Do you agree? Was Magic right in trading D’Lo from the Lakers? Let us know what you think about it.