D’Angelo Russell officially got his revenge.
Russell and the Los Angeles Lakers were victorious in Saturday night’s final of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament, defeating the Indiana Pacers 123-109. The ex-All-Star guard Russell was seen multiple times during the game talking trash to Pacers counterpart Bruce Brown after made baskets. He even directly pointed at Brown on the bench at one point (video here).
In the locker room after the game, the barbs from Russell continued.
“He was talking s— all year,” said Russell of Brown, via Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times. “Yeah, talking s— all year. For me, it was just showing it with my play. I don’t have nothing to say to him. I’m a fan of him to be honest.
“This was just all on the court,” Russell added. “Got something to say? Show me on the court. [Nikola] Jokic ain’t there next to you today. It’s different.”
There was some extra certainly meaning to the victory for Russell. Brown spent last season on the NBA champion Denver Nuggets, who swept the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals en route to their title victory. During that series, Brown publicly roasted Russell for his individual weaknesses that the Nuggets were able to exploit.
Of course, you could make the argument that Russell has LeBron James and Anthony Davis still carrying the load for him as well. But Russell did finish with 13 big points and seven assists for the Lakers in the IST final (to a mere four points on 2-of-9 from the field for Brown), so he definitely earned the right to chirp back some seven months later.
