New Los Angeles Lakers president Magic Johnson is hoping that D’Angelo Russell will develop into a leader for the team.
Johnson spoke to many fans at a “Lakers All Access” event on Monday night while the team had an open night on their schedule. He took questions from some of the fans and talked about the team. One notable thing he said is how he wants the team’s 2015 No. 2 overall draft pick to become a leader despite his youth.
Magic says of D'Angelo "We just want him to lead a little more. Sometimes when everyone is young..it's hard to hold people accountable"
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) February 28, 2017
Magic: "I want DAngelo to take this team in his hands and just lead, no matter how old he is" #LakersAllAccess
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) February 28, 2017
Russell is only 21 and still hasn’t been trusted to play a ton of minutes early in his career. He averaged 28.2 minutes per game as a rookie while clashing with former head coach Byron Scott. This season Luke Walton has him at 26.8 minutes per game. When you factor in that as a 20-year-old he was involved in a controversy for videotaping a teammate having a private conversation, you understand why there probably hasn’t been a ton of trust in him as a leader yet.
Still, Russell is one of the important players in the Lakers’ future. He should heed Magic’s advice.
