D’Angelo Russell says the tough lessons he learned from a turbulent past in Los Angeles will prepare him for a better future in Brooklyn. Being traded by the Lakers taught him the NBA is a business and made him want to do whatever it takes to set down roots with the Nets.
“Yeah, definitely, it prepared me in major way to come straight to New York and be who I am,” Russell said. “Just in general — how to talk to [media], how to carry myself, everything, on the court and off the court. Getting traded, you realize everything is a business. … It’s a fresh start for me and I’m going to try to take advantage of that.
“As of now, I’m in a new situation, and I’ve got to earn that trust and relationships with guys. So I’m going to go out of my way to make that happen.”
How? By hitting the gym for late-night workouts as soon as he got traded and inviting Caris LeVert to come along; by working out most of the summer in Brooklyn with his new teammates; and by playing alongside Isaiah Whitehead at Dyckman Park.
Why?
“They’re my new teammates. I want this to be home for me,” Russell said. “Getting traded and moving, changing your whole environment and situation is not easy. So I don’t want to do that again.”
One of the Lakers’ issues with Russell was he needed to respond better to tough coaching. And Timofey Mozgov, who played two years with Russell in L.A. and came along in the trade, said the 21-year-old can learn from constructive criticism.
“It depends on how he recognizes it, but it’s going to help him growing up. … Instructive criticism always helps,” Mozgov said, just as Russell jumped on his back. “The criticism, this is right, you always should listen because the people around talking, they see what you’re doing on the court. And you always can speak with the coach. He tells you what to do right.
“Criticism always [pushes] you to be stronger. For me, always push me on the court. Coach doesn’t like how I do this: OK, I’m going to work on this. It’s simple. The same way [for him]. It should be a ring for him, like, ‘OK, this means I do something wrong, so let me see what I can do better.’ ”
Russell admits he needs to get stronger, both to help him finish at the rim and on defense.
“For me it was just … changing my body, getting stronger,’’ Russell said. “You’re playing against grown men.”
He also worked with trainer Chris Brickley to get more consistent on his jumper and more creative. It’s work that may help him thrive playing alongside Jeremy Lin, a partnership that must click if the last-place Nets are to improve.
“I know how to play off the ball, he knows how to play off the ball, but his IQ is so high, playing pickup, his passing is so phenomenal,” Lin said. “It’s going to be so much easier than I’d anticipated or other people had expected.
“You’re going to see us playing off of each other. The reality is we were in last place last year, and we need both of us to play extremely well for this team to continue to take steps forward. We’ve discussed that … and we’re ready to take on that challenge.”