D’Angelo Russell seemed likely to join the Minnesota Timberwolves at one point this summer, but now he is revealing why he got cold feet … literally.
Speaking with the media on Friday, the All-Star guard said that the Minnesota weather “for sure” played a major role in his decision to turn down the Wolves this summer.
“I thought the opportunity [in Minnesota] was amazing,” Russell said, per Chris Hine of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “It was definitely something that I was considering very strongly. But then when this opportunity came [with the Golden State Warriors], the weather is way better, so that helped me.
“I did my first winter in New York and that was tough,” he continued. “So to get the opportunity to go somewhere where it’s warm again, I think that played a major part in my plan.”
Russell, who played for the Brooklyn Nets last season, is close friends with Wolves star Karl-Anthony Towns, who went one pick ahead of him in the 2015 NBA Draft. Instead of Minnesota though, Russell chose to greenlight a sign-and-trade that sent him to Golden State in a return package for Kevin Durant.
Indeed, playing in the upper Midwest cold can have some major drawbacks, as another professional athlete can definitely attest to.
