LA Lakers star D’Angelo Russell has been having a tough time on the court recently. With his role being reduced to the bench and averaging 11.5 points and 5 assists early into the season, the 28-year-old hasn’t found his rhythm so far. However, we now have some breaking news revolving around the Lakers guard and International basketball.

According to reports, D’Angelo Russell has shown interest in representing the Lithuanian national team. However, Dlo hails from Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States, which raises the question of how he could represent Lithuania. His wife, Laura Ivaniukas, comes from a Lithuanian family and has two children with him, which could make D’Angelo eligible to represent Lithuania.

Laura was born in Ontario, Canada, but is of Lithuanian descent. Recently, the couple was blessed with a baby girl named Mila-Rose Russell. Having a wife and a kid of Lithuanian descent could open up a pathway to citizenship and play for Lithuania for Russel. “The President’s institution is aware of the player and his connection to Lithuania, but formal citizenship procedures haven’t been started yet,” said the President of Lithuania’s representative to the press.

However, broaching the topic of possible naturalization has received backlash from the Lithuanian Basketball Federation (LFK). President Gitanas Nuaseda has had a different stand and somewhat supported the cause. Additionally, this has taken the internet by storm, and basketball fans have taken to the tweet that broke the news and expressed their thoughts.

“What???” fans express their thoughts on D’Angelo Russell’s interest in representing Lithuania

Well, the news has left many fans scratching their heads about how Dlo, who is African-American by descent, could represent a European country. They have taken to X to react. One fan was curious as to how Russell could be allowed to play for Lithuania. He wrote, “Does he have a Lithuanian passport, or how is this allowed?” The fan isn’t aware of Russell’s Lithuanian connection through his wife and kids.

While a few were aware of the fact and helped other fans understand the connection, one stated, “His wife and kid are of Lithuanian descent, and apparently he’s been there many times, and people love him and he loves the people. Supposedly it’s mutual interest, so who knows?” acknowledging the connection and expressing that the people love him in Lithuania and D’Angelo loves them as well.

On the other hand, a few took this opportunity to make a few sarcastic comments. One fan wrote, “Lithuania was not interested,” taking friendly jabs at the Lakers guard and suggesting Lithuania wouldn’t be interested in his service.

Some even questioned the process of being able to represent nations through connections, writing, “This needs to be stopped. This “naturalising” players thing is ridiculous.” Naturalization has been a topic of debate in not just basketball but all sports, and Lithuania is no exception.

Additionally, Lakers fans seem to be pretty pumped up since he has not been great for them and has even been subjected to trade rumors. One of them expressed, “This is a good day for the Lakers fanbase,” stating it will be somehow helpful to their cause.

Well, there’s still a lot of work to be done in this regard, and at this point, it is just an interest. However, it will be interesting to see how this develops and if more players will follow this route in the future, with several countries already using this to strengthen their programs.