Before re-signing with the Lakers, D’Angelo Russell had one question.

Before re-signing with the Lakers, D’Angelo Russell had one question.

The public’s opinion of D’Angelo Russell’s capacity to have a significant impact on the Los Angeles Lakers has completely changed, and this shift has been critical to the team’s recent success. For the first time since the end of the 2020–21 season, the Lakers were six games over the.500 mark prior to their Wednesday night loss to the Sacramento Kings.

Russell scored 10.2 points a night on 41% shooting from the field and 32.7 percent from beyond the arc in December. He boosted those figures to 22.7 points per game on 48.8 percent shooting and 45.9 percent from three-point range in January. The 28-year-old guard may have whispered something to the Lakers brass prior to re-signing with the organization this past offseason, since it has elevated both his own and the Lakers’ play.

Russell “wasn’t thrilled” about a Lakers comeback after being benched in the Western Conference Finals, as ESPN’s Dave McMenamin disclosed. Russell informed head coach Darvin Ham and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka of this. However, Russell believes that the question he asked the pair when they expressed interest in having him return could encapsulate his stellar performance in recent months.

According to ESPN, Russell remarked, “They were like, ‘We’re going to do whatever to try to keep you here.” “And I was like, ‘Are y’all going to let me rock out, though?'”

It just seems like a reasonable query for a player accustomed to managing a respectable offensive workload on the surface. Yet, he’s played in a new, more liberated manner ever since his numbers have risen. Russell hasn’t been hesitant about playing his game.

With LeBron James just feet away, he has pulled up for deep, contested three-pointers during crucial moments. And with James out due to injury, he led the Lakers to an incredible upset victory over the Milwaukee Bucks following the All-Star break. The Bucks started the second half of the season on a 6-1 streak.

Russell informed McMenamin that he scored 44 points in the game, including 21 in the fourth quarter, and that Pelinka had reportedly told him the team needed a 40-point performance from him before that game.

Russell told ESPN, “LeBron’s out, Milwaukee’s tough,” essentially quoting Pelinka’s order. “I could use a 40-ball out of you.”

In addition to improving the team’s chances of earning a good postseason seed, Russell’s continued “rock out” performance might mean the difference between another deep playoff run and an early departure.

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