D’Angelo Russell may have ice in his veins, but we should probably check what he has between his ears.
The Minnesota Timberwolves guard Russell had the goof of the season on Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns. Russell was at the scorer’s table to check into the game during a stoppage in play, but forgot to, you know, actually take the floor. As a result, his team was forced to play 4 vs. 5 on defense and eventually gave up a three. Take a look at the odd sequence.
The Timberwolves had to play defense down a man after D'Angelo Russell forgot he was supposed to be on the court 😅
🎥 @DWolfsonKSTPpic.twitter.com/QtzvB7lz8g
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) November 10, 2022
The funniest part of that video has to be Russell staying glued to the sideline while Minnesota gave up a wide-open corner three … and staying glued to the sideline while Phoenix got an offensive rebound … only to panic-run onto the floor just in time to finally see another Suns triple try go in.
That has to be the first time that we have ever seen an NBA player serve as a decoy … on defense.
In fairness to Russell, he might have been thrown for a loop because he was checking in when teammate Jaylen Nowell was shooting a single free throw after an and-1 (players typically check in between two free throw attempts). Russell is also not the only NBA player to pull a boneheaded move in the early stages of the season.
