D'Angelo Russell, Nick Young, and the Disaster that is the LA Lakers

Current state of the LA Lakers

I was going to write about one of my favorite TV characters today, but that will take a backseat until next week because I have to talk about this insane LA Lakers story that broke yesterday. If you don't already know, rookie D'Angelo Russell released a recording of him talking to teammate Nick Young, I refuse to call him by his stupid nickname, of Young basically saying that he cheated on his fiancée.

Now, where to start with this whole can of worms? First of all, what Young may or may not have done or been accused of doing or joking about what he said he did, it was wrong. Don't cheat on people that you have promised to spend the rest of your life with. Only scumbags do this and it makes you a terrible, gross person. Cheaters are some of the worst people on Earth. I HATE everything when it comes to cheating. It's gross and causes a distrust you can never earn back, no matter what you do and say.

With that being said, let's get to part two. What D'Angelo Russell did was one hundred percent unethical and is every bit as wrong and as bad as cheating on your significant other. You want to talk about losing trust and faith from people, go out and secretly record a conversation with a friend and a colleague. See how much trust you can get back when you do something this shady. This is so wrong on every level. Why would Russell record this conversation? What did he stand to gain from this? Does he want to be with Young's fiancée? Does he not really like Nick Young and did he think if he leaked this conversation people would think he was a saint and a hero? There are so many questions that I would love to personally ask Russell. Let's look at each of these questions I posed here.

Number one, why record this? The only reason I can really think of, he wants Young off the team because Russell was the number two pick in the last draft and was told that the future of the Lakers would be built around him. Well, I don't know how many free agents the Lakers will attract now, when the "future" of this team is secretly recording contracts. If I was a big time free agent next year, like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Andre Drummond, DeMar DeRozan, Al Horford or Harrison Barnes, I would stay away from the Lakers with a very wide breach. I wouldn't even give them a meeting, as long as Russell is still on that team. Now, these guys most likely wouldn't say stupid shit like Nick Young did, but I wouldn't want to walk into that locker room everyday fearing that someone was secretly recording me. No way.

Question two, what did he think he'd gain from this? This one, I have no idea. I don't know if he thought he'd be looked at like a good guy or a guy that catches cheaters in the act, like that host from the show "Cheaters". Side note, that show is entertaining as hell. This one question, I believe, only Russell knows the real and true answer and he will never reveal it to the public.

Question three, does he want to be with Young's fiancée? I'd say, sure, why not. She is a famous rapper with a lot of money. She is also an attractive young lady. She has a lot going for her, so why wouldn't he want to be with her. But, how many girls that were cheated on go out and be with the guy who told her that her old boyfriend was cheating? As I said before, Russell recording this conversation is as bad as what Young said he did. Why would she trust Russell when her fiancée and his teammates can't even trust him. It's a no win situation.

The fourth question seems, at least to me, was the main reason he released and recorded this conversation. He wants Young off the team. Young is a ball hog that plays no defense and has shown no signs of turning his game or attitude around. He plays with a swagger that he doesn't have. Young thinks he is a star, but he is one of the worst players in the league. He is supposed to be a shooter, but he is not very good at that. He should be in the D League, but he is a starter in the NBA for some unknown reason. Young isn't good, but neither is Russell. One, he's a rookie. Two, he also shows no sign of wanting to play defense or share the ball and he's a point guard. He'd rather drive to score than drive to pass. He is a very, very poor man's version of James Harden. Russell has shown flashes, but he has a very long way to go before he is any kind of threat in the NBA. He is not very good right now and he will need a lot of time to develop his game. He is not on other rookies from his draft class level like Karl Anthony-Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, Devin Booker or even a Trey Lyles. Those guys are so much better and have improved so much more over the year. Russell needs a lot of work, a lot more than the guys I just mentioned.

All this brings me to my main point and main problem with the current and future state of the NBA. D'Angelo Russell is 20 years old. He is still a kid, but he was given the keys to this historic franchise at way too young an age. He has also been surrounded by the Kobe Bryant retirement circus. How is any young player on that team going to develop when Bryant still wants to be the main star and story of the franchise? It's impossible and that's the way Bryant likes it. He doesn't care how bad or how much of a hole he has put the Lakers in, as long as everyone tells him how much they love and adore him. But, aside from Bryant, the only other players that are any good on this team are Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. Young stinks, as I have mentioned a couple times, Roy Hibbert stinks and is a billion years old, Brandon Bass best days are behind him, Lou Williams doesn't want to be there and hogs the ball too much and the rest of the roster is filled with guys that should be in the D League. And, the front office gave the keys to a lying, sneaky and conniving 20 year old when they drafted Russell number two overall last year. This was a HUGE misstep from a front office that has made misstep after misstep for the past three or four years. The Lakers have been a joke for a couple of years now, but they are becoming a dumpster fire. They seem to be worse off than the much maligned and much ripped apart 76ers right now. If I were a big time player, I'd rather go to the 76ers than the Lakers right now. At least on the 76ers I know my teammates won't be secretly recording me. If I were a player in the upcoming draft, I would hope and pray that the Lakers passed on me. I can't think of a worse situation for a player like Buddy Hield or Ben Simmons than to be drafted by the Lakers and have to be on the same team as D'Angelo Russell.

If I've said it once on this site, I've said it one thousand times, don't draft teenagers to be your franchise player. Teenagers and early 20 year olds do stupid shit like secretly recording conversations with their teammates because they think they can gain something from it. The whole NBA is guilty of this new trend of drafting based on potential, but with potential comes childish behavior. Like I said before, if I were a big time free agent I'd be very wary of signing with the Lakers this summer because I would not trust or want to play with Russell. He has lost any credibility that he had, if he had any at all. These established players don't want or need to worry about what a child does and this story will make it very tough for the Lakers to become relevant again. No big named free agents will sign there because of this and, as long as Russell is still there, it will be tough for the Lakers to compete again. I don't buy his "apology" that he gave yesterday, and when you get me siding with Nick Young, you've clearly done something horribly wrong and horribly shady. I'm not a Lakers fan and this story makes it that much easier for me to dislike this team. They are interrible, big time hole that may take years for them to dig out of. They stink and their players are shady people.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He will be very happy when Kobe and is 9% shooting nights are gone from the NBA. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.