The Los Angeles Lakers are isolating rookie D’Angelo Russell in response to a controversial video that leaked out last week.
Last week a video began circulating on social media allegedly of Lakers guard Nick Young talking about other women he had been with. The video allegedly was recorded by Russell (you can watch the video here).
This is a problem because it obviously violates Young’s privacy, and also because he is engaged to music artist Iggy Azalea. It also makes some question the trust and judgment of Russell to record a video about such sensitive subject matter.
Now ESPN’s Baxter Holmes and Marc Stein report that the video has become a problem within the locker room and that some Lakers are responding by isolating the rookie.
“Right now they’re handling it by isolating him,” a source told ESPN.
No teammates reportedly would sit at a table with Russell during a recent meal. In another example of the isolation, a teammate got up and walked away after Russell sat down next to him in the locker room.
The source described the video as a prank gone wrong.
The video apparently has been the talk of the Lakers’ locker room and is said to have been a major factor in the team’s record-tying 48-point blowout loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday.
Maybe this is exactly the sort of thing head coach Byron Scott was talking about when he said Russell had maturity issues.
