Los Angeles Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell had his best game as a pro Thursday night, and the rookie was quick to assure everyone after the performance that the best is yet to come.
Russell scored 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting in just 29 minutes of action. He added two steals and four assists and shot 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.
“Y’all ain’t seen nothing yet,” he told reporters after the game, via ESPN.com’s Baxter Holmes. “That’s all I’m going to say. … The world hasn’t seen anything yet.”
Russell’s performance could have been even better had he not rolled his ankle and left in the final minutes. His 19 points in the second half almost helped the Lakers erase a 27-point deficit, but they eventually lost 118-115. If Russell stayed on the floor, he believes L.A. would have completed the comeback.
“They got lucky,” he confidently said of the Kings.
Lakers coach Byron Scott has been critical of Russell throughout the season, but he had no problem praising the work the 19-year-old and his benchmates did against Sacramento.
“That whole group, that’s why I left them in,” Scott said. Their aggressiveness and their physicality in the fourth quarter was fantastic and their activity was fantastic. And then offensively, they were being aggressive as well.”
Even Kobe Bryant, who looked sharp and scored 28 points of his own, said he would prefer that Russell and the second unit take control more often.
“I’d much rather watch the young guys play,” Kobe said. “They played so well and worked really, really hard. It’s important for them to figure out how to close those games out without me on the floor. Obviously, I’m not going to be there next year, so it’s important for them to learn how to do those things.”
If Thursday night was a glimpse into the future, the Lakers may have found their next superstar to replace Kobe. And if the way Russell has interacted with Bryant is any indication, we know he has plenty of confidence. The former Ohio State star has a very promising outlook.
