D’Angelo Russell was one of three midseason acquisitions that miraculously turned around the Los Angeles Lakers from a hopelessly mediocre team to one that reached the Western Conference finals.
Suddenly, what had been an incomplete and unbalanced roster now had parts that fit well together. The team had one of the NBA’s best records after the All-Star break, not to mention one of its best defenses.
Therefore it is no wonder plenty of people consider it one of the favorites to win the world championship this season.
While on “The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone,” Russell said the sky is the limit for the Lakers as long as they play as a team.
Via Lakers Nation:
“I have no idea. I know we got a lot of bodies though, what you said, we got a lot of bodies. So trying to give the team what it needs every night to win, I think that’s gotta be our focus. Whatever or however it gets done, if everybody is locked in to just giving the team what it needs that night. That night might be scoring, the next night might be eight assists, the next night might be all passes because they ran you off and you made the one more to Austin Reaves in the corner, he’s hitting. It’s gotta be the right play, right mentality type of energy for our group because anybody can do it. He can throw any five out there and get it done. But if we’re all committed to that I think sky is the limit for the group honestly.”
The Lakers certainly played as a team during their invigorating late-season run. They now possess several versatile players that are capable of providing signifcant support for the aging LeBron James to take the pressure off him.