DeAngelo Russell secretly films Nick Young - creates huge rift

[mahcus smaht]

I done purport to know what % of NBA players cheat on their spouses, or care to know, but the level to which Russell is being vilified above and beyond Young is pretty sad.

They're both nitwits, but one is a 30 year-old cheating with a teenager. The other made a stupid video of the other talking. The fact that 95% of what I see going around involves the word "snitch", just... SMH. Makes you wonder how many pro athletes are immature prima donnas and/or scumbags in their personal lives. I prefer to believe they're in the minority, but this doesn't help.

No one in the NBA cares about Young and Azaela's relationship. Everyone cares about locker room trust. Every player in the NBA refers to it as a fraternity and within a locker room Id assume trust and keeping things in house is even more important. A man cheating on his wife has no basketball impact.  A player violating locker room trust has tremendous basketball impact. This is why we discuss it and vilify Deangelo Russell. Also Nick Young is irrelevant, Russell is relevant.

[greece66]

My two cents.

To get things straight, I have to say this is a minor incident that will soon be forgotten. I do hope I am wrong and the fakers blow this out of proportion, but if you look at it the right way it looks like a high school prank more than anything else.  A 19 yo NBA player is still a 19 yo I guess.

There are two ways to examine the Russellgate.

 First, as an insight in the locker room atmosphere in LAL. I've been suspecting some time now it is dysfunctional for several reasons:

Kobe treats the young talents as an obnoxious know-it-all older brother with unquestionable authority.

Moreover, the White Mamba farewell tour was unbearable for the younger kids and it showed. The felt like guest stars in their own team's games.

Coaching is very poor.

They failed to combine player development with tanking.

Tanking can hardly be popular with young players anyway since they come to the NBA hungry to prove their worth.

Compared to the above the Russellgate is of much less important.

Second, the Russellgate will hardly lead the front office to action. You do not want to ostracise a 19 yo rookie who has already established himself as your best player. If things get so tense that one of the has two go (I doubt it) it will be Young. He is a 30 yo with constantly declining stats in the last three seasons. His cheap contract (5 mill, 2 more years) means he ll be easy to move provided LAL adds some sweeteners. But again, even if this happens, I doubt the Russellgate will be the main reason.

Other than that, I always chuckle when the LAL commit a PR faux pas.

On a different note, in Hollywoodland, the Kobe cult has taken a turn for the occult and outright perverse.

http://uproxx.com/dimemag/kobe-bryant-fans-smell-armband/

[wayupnorth]

There are so many worse things a 19 year old can do than videotape their buddy talking about a girl. 

Russell has more potential than any player on that team.  His stats are pretty similar to Wiggins last season.  Unless they foolishly trade him (I'm rooting for it), he's the face of that franchise heading forward.   Let's see how freezing out the face of the team's future works out for those losers. 

Nick Young is a scrub who will not be on that team long-term.  Russell more than likely will.   If you're a journeyman on that team, it's probably not the smartest choice alienating the team's potential franchise player.

Greg Anthony said that this was a big deal. A ten year vet in the league and he said this was a huge violation of trust. The reports have also said that he is pretty much despised by the team for violating the trust. Lou Williams didnt even want to be near him, the whole team is supposedly "isolating" him.

Its not that this makes Young a bad person, but now every FA knows that you cant trust the LA Lakers star point guard. I mean his coach just said he was like a 14 year old kid. Do you think any stars wanna go play with a talented 14 year old? not a chance.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2628927-greg-anthony-nba-players-will-never-forget-russell-violated-locker-room-code

the point is not that this group of players dont like Russell. the point is that his actions are now in the back of every NBA players mind.

That is jus larBrd trying to downplay a huge mistake by a young guy he likes, and who isn't on the celtics.

If Smart had done this, he would be understanding of how much of a mess up it was, but since it isnt the Celtics he downplays it...

Just standard operating procedure, nothing to see here.

[byennie]

I done purport to know what % of NBA players cheat on their spouses, or care to know, but the level to which Russell is being vilified above and beyond Young is pretty sad.

They're both nitwits, but one is a 30 year-old cheating with a teenager. The other made a stupid video of the other talking. The fact that 95% of what I see going around involves the word "snitch", just... SMH. Makes you wonder how many pro athletes are immature prima donnas and/or scumbags in their personal lives. I prefer to believe they're in the minority, but this doesn't help.

No one in the NBA cares about Young and Azaela's relationship. Everyone cares about locker room trust. Every player in the NBA refers to it as a fraternity and within a locker room Id assume trust and keeping things in house is even more important. A man cheating on his wife has no basketball impact.  A player violating locker room trust has tremendous basketball impact. This is why we discuss it and vilify Deangelo Russell. Also Nick Young is irrelevant, Russell is relevant.

I agree that's the case. I just think it's sad as a fan to be reminded that for the most part, these are much more frat brothers than professionals. That frat brothers are supposed to cover for each other's indiscretions above all else, in a billion dollar industry, is a downer IMO. This isn't an actual frat, it's the NBA. Just my opinion. You're not wrong about why it's playing out this way.

[LarBrd33]

There are so many worse things a 19 year old can do than videotape their buddy talking about a girl. 

Russell has more potential than any player on that team.  His stats are pretty similar to Wiggins last season.  Unless they foolishly trade him (I'm rooting for it), he's the face of that franchise heading forward.   Let's see how freezing out the face of the team's future works out for those losers. 

Nick Young is a scrub who will not be on that team long-term.  Russell more than likely will.   If you're a journeyman on that team, it's probably not the smartest choice alienating the team's potential franchise player.

Greg Anthony said that this was a big deal. A ten year vet in the league and he said this was a huge violation of trust. The reports have also said that he is pretty much despised by the team for violating the trust. Lou Williams didnt even want to be near him, the whole team is supposedly "isolating" him.

Its not that this makes Young a bad person, but now every FA knows that you cant trust the LA Lakers star point guard. I mean his coach just said he was like a 14 year old kid. Do you think any stars wanna go play with a talented 14 year old? not a chance.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2628927-greg-anthony-nba-players-will-never-forget-russell-violated-locker-room-code

the point is not that this group of players dont like Russell. the point is that his actions are now in the back of every NBA players mind.

That is jus larBrd trying to downplay a huge mistake by a young guy he likes, and who isn't on the celtics.

If Smart had done this, he would be understanding of how much of a mess up it was, but since it isnt the Celtics he downplays it...

Just standard operating procedure, nothing to see here.

C'mon... who knows how it leaked out.  Maybe it was misguided, but give me a break.  It wasn't even clear to me what NIck Young was saying in that video.  As far as I can tell he said he met a 19 year old girl at a club.  Ok.  Nate Robinson would tweet videos constantly of his teammates.  Evan Turner is all over instagram.  Some of these guys are deep in social media... and yeah, maybe the video Russell took was of personal nature, but as far as I can tell he wasn't the one who blasted it out on twitter. 

There's players (and coaches) in this league sleeping with each others wives, girlsfriends and... supposedly in the case of Delonte West, player's moms.  A dude taking a vine video of his teammate rambling is far from the worst thing a 19 year old kid can do.  A couple years ago Sully turned himself in to police after an alleged domestic assault on his girlfriend. He was charged with assault and battery, intimidation of a witness, and destruction of property.  Obviously, there's far worse things... like Blake Griffin assaulting one of the team's employees.  KG got in physical fights with teammates.  Players have choked out coaches in the past.   This Russell thing is nothing.  People are acting like D'Angelo Russell committed a crime or something.

Yeah, Russell should be careful about losing the trust of his teammates heading forward, but the vast majority of those losers will be out of the league soon and RUssell is one of the up and coming young players in this league.  He has more potential than any of them.  It might be his team in a couple years.  They should be careful not to push this too far. 

[fairweatherfan]

I done purport to know what % of NBA players cheat on their spouses, or care to know, but the level to which Russell is being vilified above and beyond Young is pretty sad.

They're both nitwits, but one is a 30 year-old cheating with a teenager. The other made a stupid video of the other talking. The fact that 95% of what I see going around involves the word "snitch", just... SMH. Makes you wonder how many pro athletes are immature prima donnas and/or scumbags in their personal lives. I prefer to believe they're in the minority, but this doesn't help.

No one in the NBA cares about Young and Azaela's relationship. Everyone cares about locker room trust. Every player in the NBA refers to it as a fraternity and within a locker room Id assume trust and keeping things in house is even more important. A man cheating on his wife has no basketball impact.  A player violating locker room trust has tremendous basketball impact. This is why we discuss it and vilify Deangelo Russell. Also Nick Young is irrelevant, Russell is relevant.

I agree that's the case. I just think it's sad as a fan to be reminded that for the most part, these are much more frat brothers than professionals. That frat brothers are supposed to cover for each other's indiscretions above all else, in a billion dollar industry, is a downer IMO. This isn't an actual frat, it's the NBA. Just my opinion. You're not wrong about why it's playing out this way.

Well, think of it this way - cheating on your fiancee doesn't affect team rapport and trust in your teammates, unless one or more women involved are connected with other team members.  And while it's definitely immoral, it's not a crime, so it should really be between the 3+ parties involved. 

Getting a teammate to confess something embarrassing or damaging privately while secretly recording him then having it leak online for the world to see probably isn't as immoral as cheating, but it very much does affect team rapport and trust in your teammates. 

It's not necessarily that it's seen as worse in a moral sense (though some players likely think so), it's that it's definitely worse from the perspective of being part of the team.

[chambers]

The NBA locker room and hotel/travel daily happenings are a sacred 'team only' situation. You spend almost every day of the season with these guys, for multiple years, and they are essentially your brothers.

It's like being in the army and having a room mate.

Russell has broken this code of brothers. He's  betrayed everyone in that locker room and even though Nick Young is a scumbag, Russell has betrayed him and he's betrayed Iggy Azalea's privacy in the worst way possible.

This isn't just some 'dumb teenager mistake'.
This is something he would get the #&$^% beaten out of him for in many circumstances and be ostricized from the group for a long time.
It says something about his character and it shows a level of selfishness that doesn't belong in an NBA locker room.

He's made Iggy and Nick's personal and deeply humiliating business completely public and broken the trust of his locker room.

I think this will hurt the Lakers a lot more than people think.
Who wants to play with this snitching, selfish little punk?
You couldn't trust him with anything if he's gonna just air the most serious and humiliating things like this because he thinks it's funny.
What a complete moron.

[manl_lui]

The NBA locker room and hotel/travel daily happenings are a sacred 'team only' situation. You spend almost every day of the season with these guys, for multiple years, and they are essentially your brothers.

It's like being in the army and having a room mate.

Russell has broken this code of brothers. He's  betrayed everyone in that locker room and even though Nick Young is a scumbag, Russell has betrayed him and he's betrayed Iggy Azalea's privacy in the worst way possible.

This isn't just some 'dumb teenager mistake'.
This is something he would get the #&$^% beaten out of him for in many circumstances and be ostricized from the group for a long time.
It says something about his character and it shows a level of selfishness that doesn't belong in an NBA locker room.

He's made Iggy and Nick's personal and deeply humiliating business completely public and broken the trust of his locker room.

I think this will hurt the Lakers a lot more than people think.
Who wants to play with this snitching, selfish little punk?
You couldn't trust him with anything if he's gonna just air the most serious and humiliating things like this because he thinks it's funny.
What a complete moron.

^^ completely this

with the whole sexual harassment allegations against Young, instead of keeping everything within the team, he made things a lot worse! God knows how bad that locker room is right now.

The focus of that LA team is - finish off Kobe's farewell tour, and continue rebuilding. This incident more or less affects Kobe. And if the Lakers are putting their hopes in Russell as their future, then this probably takes them back a few steps. As an organization, both things are going to be VERY hard to deal with. Diehard fans wants to see Kobe go out with a bang, and not have this interfere, and also with diehard fans and as an organization that's used to winning, having your prized draft pick cause this much trouble is certainly troubling going forward. Who wants to play with him? At this moment, I do not know how many players in the NBA are taking notice but I sure don't want a "rat" as a teammate, someone who would betray your trust as a teammate. So now what, suck for another few years, and hope your lottery picks pan out? 

[Donoghus]

Thought this was good.

Not Bill Walton
‏@NotBillWalton
D'Angelo Russell was escorted out of Lakers practice by security. It's the first time any Laker has received help defense all season.

[alldaboston]

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/if-lakers-russell-made-available-cs-could-pique-interest

Ok. Whoa. Did not expect this.

[LarBrd33]

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/if-lakers-russell-made-available-cs-could-pique-interest

Ok. Whoa. Did not expect this.

They suggest it would take Marcus Smart and a pick.  I think it would have to be a pretty good pick.  Two years of minimal improvement hurt a prospects' trade value.  If Smart doesn't start showing offensive progress soon, his trade value will plummet. 

Russell, on the other hand, shows many signs of being a star in this league some day.  I'd gladly trade Smart and a pick for him.

Still, I think the Lakers are better off just trading/cutting everyone else and keeping Russell.

[JSD]

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/if-lakers-russell-made-available-cs-could-pique-interest

Ok. Whoa. Did not expect this.

It's a guard driven league

[wayupnorth]

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/if-lakers-russell-made-available-cs-could-pique-interest

Ok. Whoa. Did not expect this.

They suggest it would take Marcus Smart and a pick.  I think it would have to be a pretty good pick.  Two years of minimal improvement hurt a prospects' trade value.  If Smart doesn't start showing offensive progress soon, his trade value will plummet. 

Russell, on the other hand, shows many signs of being a star in this league some day.  I'd gladly trade Smart and a pick for him.

Still, I think the Lakers are better off just trading/cutting everyone else and keeping Russell.

Lol this is exactly what I am talking about.

Kid is juvenile, immature, and foolish, having alienated himself from his teammates in just his first season, and you want him over a guy known for grit, toughness, and resolve, and while having a rough offensive stretch, is still makes winning plays over and over again.

Seriously, it gets really old seeing you defend guys like Okafore and Russel, while dogging on celtics players all the time.

First it was that Randle is way better than Smart, then it was Brooklyn will be a playoff contender, then it was how awesome Oakfor and Russell are when they have been terrible NBA rookies, when off court antics are considered  (which Danny clearly considers ).

Why?

I get different opinions, but you, in all honesty do not come off like you root for the celtics.

I am not saying you dont, or are a bad fan, or anything like that, but if someone read your posts, and didn't see your username, they could very easily assume you root for someone other than the celtics.

[Atzar]

I'm looking to win trades, not give fair value.  We're ahead of schedule because Danny has won multiple trades in the past few years. 

If Russell can be had at a discount, then I'd roll the dice on him.  But I'm not paying what his stats and potential suggest he should be worth.  And I doubt the Lakers won't let themselves be pickpocketed by their greatest rivals.  So my guess is that this idea is more interesting to writers than GMs overall.

[Ilikesports17]

I'm looking to win trades, not give fair value.  We're ahead of schedule because Danny has won multiple trades in the past few years. 

If Russell can be had at a discount, then I'd roll the dice on him.  But I'm not paying what his stats and potential suggest he should be worth.  And my guess is that the Lakers won't let themselves be pickpocketed by their greatest rivals.  So my guess is that this idea is more interesting to writers than GMs overall.

If you read the article the phrasing is

“All those picks and young players Boston has, they could probably put a package together that would at least pique the Lakers’ interest,” a league executive told CSNNE.com via text. “But do the Lakers want to move him over something like this? I don’t think so. But hey, stranger things have happened.”

So literally
I dont think LA will move him and I have no info suggesting Boston wants him other than that they go after [dang] near everyone and boston has a lot of assets so they could make a good offer.

In other words its not news its hardly even speculation