D’Angelo Russell’s Unfortunate Dumb Decision
Photo Credit: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
The Los Angeles Lakers toughed out an OT win against the Miami Heat Wednesday night, but unfortunately, the only video that played over and over again was that of Nick Young’s private phone conversation, compliments of his duplicitous teammate, D’Angelo Russell.
Everyone thought this storied franchise had hit the depths of despair when they matched their biggest loss on Monday – a 48-point defeat by the Utah Jazz.
In the post game interview Russell was remorseful for his actions, but claimed that he has no idea how the video went viral. Seriously? That’s like Jim Bouton, who spilled the beans about his teammates infidelities in his book, Ball Four, professing, “I don’t know how it got published.”
Well, there aren’t that many scenarios to choose from. He shot the video and either sent it to someone he may have foolishly trusted, or he foolishly left his phone in the presence of someone who posted it without his knowledge.
Either way you look at it, Russell did something so damaging, that he may have lost a friend forever, and the trust of a team that is in serious need of bonding.
Today, on my ride home, while listening to ESPN LA, I was taken aback that with the boos still burning from the Staples Center. They had the gall to run an ad of Russell promoting his autograph signing at a local car dealership with Saturday. The copy included, “Come see one of your favorite Lakers.”
The greatest prank of a payback for Nick Young would be to secretly video the small turnout, then reveal it, Ashton Kutcher style, for the entire world to see.
Related Posts
About The Author
suekolinsky
Sue Kolinsky is a writer/producer whose career began as a waitress in Manhattan. After a cynical remark got her fired, she took her humor to a place it would be appreciated – The NY Improv, which is where she launched her 20-year stand-up career. After much time spent performing at clubs, colleges and numerous tours with the USO, along with appearances on The Tonight Show and Bob Hope’s Young Comedians Special, she replaced her microphone with a Mac computer and began writing and producing TV. She has written on “Brotherly Love,” “Sex and the City,” and “The Ellen Show.” In 2001, She got a call to be a producer on the groundbreaking reality series, “The Osbourne’s.” She had no idea a new phase of her successful career was about to unfold. After garnering her first Emmy nomination, she went to produce a new MTV show called, “Newlyweds,” a reality series that documented the early-married life of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey. In 2009 she landed a job as supervising producer of the highly touted culinary competition series, “Top Chef.” She eventually became co-executive producer, garnering two more Emmy nods. Adding to her many hats, Sue also co-hosted a morning radio talk show with Steve Mason, on NY’s iconic WNEW. Having the dubious honor of going up against Howard Stern, the show was cancelled after sixteen months, but her partnership with Mason paid dividends. When he returned to his prior radio sports talk gig in LA, he gave Sue a featured segment on the show. Sue’s love of sports surfaced at the age of 10 when her older brother turned her on to baseball, and her hero, “The Say Hey Kid,” Willie Mays. While she still followed the Giants, her uncle’s box seats at Shea Stadium made her a Mets fan, and to this day, she’s still chasing the high of ’86. Sue’s love of writing about sports began as a daily analysis of the World Series on Facebook. Due to popular demand, she has created this blog. As if that’s not enough she just completed producing the past season of Last Comic Standing, and is writing an animated feature. Sue lives in Long Beach, California with her husband and two grown dogs.