D’Angelo Russell got exactly what he wanted despite not getting what he wanted.
After the Lakers’ win over the Grizzlies in Game 3 of their first-round NBA playoff series on Saturday, the Lakers guard sat down at the podium for his postgame press conference and placed a bottled drink, Coco5, on the table.
A Lakers spokesperson explained to Russell that he was not allowed to display the drink because the brand, Coco5, was “not one of our partners.”
Gatorade has the drink display rights at press conferences throughout the NBA playoffs.
“It’s my partner,” Russell said in vain. “You’re gonna have to fine me.”
The spokesperson then took the drink out of sight before Russell began taking questions from the media.
At the end of his presser, Russell repeated “Coco5” before getting his bottle back and raising it on the way out of the room.
In trying to promote the drink and not being allowed to, the buzz generated from the moment was likely way more than Russell could have hoped for as one video of the drink being removed had nearly 953,000 views on Twitter as of Monday afternoon.
So what exactly is Coco5?
According to its website, Coco5 is an “all-natural fruit-flavored coconut water” that comes in six flavors.
Its drinks do not have “dyes, caffeine, or anything unpronounceable,” Coco5 says.
The ingredients listed on the company’s nutrition page are “filtered water, natural young coconut water concentrate, pure cane sugar, natural coconut flavor, citric acid, sea salt and Rebiana A.”
One bottle has 80 calories and 14 grams of sugar.
Russell is not the only NBA player associated with Coco5, either.
Suns star Devin Booker is listed on the company’s website as a majority owner and ambassador, while Russell, the Knicks’ Derrick Rose, Clippers’ Marcus Morris and Mavericks’ Markieff Morris are listed as partners.
NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and ESPN’s Michael Wilbon are also listed as partners.
Jahlil Okafor, who most recently played in the NBA G League, is listed as a strategic partner.
Loop Capital founder Jim Reynolds is listed as a majority owner of Coco5.
