Sports
Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell has fatherhood to thank for his focus
It’s hard to get a one-year-old to focus on anything for long periods of time, but there’s an exception when point guard D’Angelo Russell plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. With a playoff shot ahead of him for the Lakers in New Orleans on Tuesday night, Riley Russell will likely be focused on watching his father on TV with a mini basketball in his hand at home in Los Angeles.
“He goes to a lot of games, but if he’s not there, the nanny or someone will send a video in a group text message to the guys watching the game at home and just stay in touch with everyone,” Russell said. Andscape in a recent telephone interview about his son. “Maybe he’ll sit on the table and have fun the match. And he already knows the little nuances of basketball. Pass. Dunk. Shoot. Dribble. He knows when the ball goes into the online. That’s good too.
For D’Angelo Russell, the birth of his son on September 24, 2022 modified his life on and off the court. Before his son was born, Russell was not focused on the court and experienced anxiety as he bounced across the NBA before finding a house with the Lakers.
Abigail’s Field
Russell and his family members were emotional through the 2015 NBA draft when the Lakers made an unexpected move and chosen him second overall out of Ohio State. The 2016 NBA All-Rookie Team selection averaged 14.3 points and 4.0 assists in his first two seasons, but was traded to the Brooklyn Nets on June 20, 2017 together with Timofey Mozgov for Brook Lopez and a first-round pick. In 2019, Russell was an NBA All-Star and finished second in Most Improved Player voting. But before Russell could acclimate himself to Brooklyn, he was dealt to the Golden State Warriors in a trade deal that gave him a four-year, $117 million contract in Kevin Durant’s July 1, 2019 blockbuster deal.
Russell was averaging a career-high 23.6 points, together with 6.2 assists and three.7 rebounds in 33 games with Golden State when he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves on February 6, 2020, for Andrew Wiggins, a protected 2021 first-round draft pick and a 2021 second-round pick. On February 29, 2022, Russell was traded back to the Lakers in a three-team deal involving the Utah Jazz, leading to Mike Conley Jr. and Nickeil Alexander-Walker were sent to Minnesota.
Russell seemed to finally achieve some stability when he signed a two-year, $37 million contract extension with the Lakers in July 2023. Russell said that with the NBA’s jersey and address changes, he had to remind himself to “be humble.” Russell added that he has learned loads from teammates Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Karl-Anthony Towns, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the late Kobe Bryant during his NBA profession.
“I’ve been through loads. I’ve done loads. I’ve seen loads,” Russell said. “But I used to be also around numerous people and touched shoulders with a few of the best players. I’ve been able to take loads from them and I exploit what I soak up situations like this. As for the mentality, not giving up, whatever it could be, I discover a way to take it from the good figures I’ve handled, after which I look within the mirror. I also realized that I’m a product of my surroundings; a few of the most effective things concerning the game were my environments.
“Everything I’ve been through or am prepared to undergo and I’m made for. I all the time attack that pressure, challenge, obstacle or adversity. I all the time like it when my back is against the wall since you discover a way out of all the things you have been a component of.
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Russell said that since he and his partner Laura Ivaniukas welcomed their first child, his life has modified for the higher.
Over the past two seasons, the combined guard has been a reliable third goal scorer for the Lakers behind James and Davis. In the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, he averaged 17.0 and 18.4 points, respectively. He also had two career-best seasons in three-point shooting and turnovers.
According to the Lakers this season, Russell joined Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Jalen Brunson as just the fourth player in NBA history to make 200 three-pointers, 400 assists and shoot over 40% from three-point range in a single game. match. season.
“Honestly, I will always have something on my shoulder. And when I started training (for the 2022-2023 season), I started working hard and diving into training. I only really saw my son when I wanted to rest or drink water or something like that. I always felt like I had another motivation somewhere in the back of my mind. I have more in the tank,” Russell said.
Russell said he has also modified his focus off the sector. Before his son was born, he was really afraid of missing a gathering with his friends. He said that after the birth of his son, there was a greater focus on family. Russell often posts photos of his son at home and at Lakers games on his Instagram page, including one showing his son within the locker room shaking hands with Davis. He and Ivaniukas threw their son a Lakers-themed celebration that featured Riley on a basketball card and everybody wearing Russell’s Lakers or his previous teams’ jerseys.
“Before I became a parent, life seemed complete,” Russell said. “But Riley’s arrival filled every corner of our hearts with such deep love. It has transformed our world by continually teaching us patience, resilience, and the true meaning of unconditional love. A brand new goal in life, other than basketball…
“Before I had a baby, I always felt like I had to take part in my friends’ initiatives and see what was going on, this and that. And I always realized that I was a homebody. So when I had my baby, it just allowed me to get used to being a homebody and focus on myself, my foundation, my family and life after basketball and all these other entities.”
Russell said he was blessed with a supportive father, Antonio, who taught him how to be a father. Russell also asked for fatherhood advice from James and Davis, his NBA All-Star teammates who each have three children.
In March, Russell announced on his show that his partner was pregnant with the couple’s first daughter.
“I clearly remember asking LeBron about spanking his kids and stuff like that, and he gave me very good information about it,” Russell said. “And then AD gave me some good advice about having a daughter and I hear things like that. I make little mental notes and in some unspecified time in the future all the things comes to light. You asked about it and it was the very first thing I believed of because I remember these items and I hear it. Like I said, I’m a fan of asking all of the questions…
“All my friends have girlfriends and they say, ‘This is it and this is going to change you.’ Many people around me have (daughters). I try to ask the right questions and prepare for them.”
Abigail’s Field
Riley watches him from Los Angeles. Russell and the eighth-seeded Lakers are in New Orleans, preparing to earn a playoff shot on Tuesday against the seventh-seeded New Orleans Pelicans within the NBA Play-In Tournament. The winner will take the seventh seed within the Western Conference playoffs and a first-round matchup with the defending champion Denver Nuggets. Russell is averaging 21.3 points, 4.3 three-pointers and three.3 assists in three games against the Pelicans this season.
The loser of the Lakers-Pelicans game will host a deciding game on Thursday for the ultimate Western Conference playoff spot against the winner of Tuesday’s matchup between the host Sacramento Kings and Warriors. The winner of this game earns the fitting to play in the primary round against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the West’s No. 1 seed, and the loser’s season will end.
Russell is optimistic that the Lakers will discover a way to make the postseason from the play-in tournament after advancing from the play-in to the Western Conference Finals last season and winning the inaugural NBA intraseason tournament in December 2023.
“The key for us is our determination,” Russell said. “We all want to get back to where we were. We are better than we were and we can beat any team in the league and compete with them every night. For us, it simply means weathering the storm through thick and thin. Without being too tall and smug.”
Michael Jordan joins NBC Sports as a special co-creator of the NBA relationship when the 2025-26 season begins.
NBC announced this on Monday morning during the presentation in advance at Radio City Music Hall, the network offers in the upcoming television season.
“I am very excited about seeing the NBA in NBC,” said Jordan during a video. “NBA on the NBC was a significant part of my career and I am excited that I am a special co -author of the project. I can’t wait to see you all when the NBA on NBC starts in October.”
NBC returns to wearing NBA after 23 years of absence. He had NBA rights in 1990–2002 and carried all six Jordan championships as a member of Chicago Bulls.
For the first time Jordan joined the network. His performances and comments during the documentary film “The Last Dance” about his occupation and the end of the Bulls dynasty in 1998 created many headlines.
“Michael’s heritage on the field and outside he speaks for herself,” said Rick Cartella, NBC sports president. “We are incredibly proud that he joined our relationship.”
The 11-year NBC agreement with NBA and WNBA begins in October. Peacock will only broadcast games on Monday evening, while NBC/Peacock could have regional double “on Tuesday. NBC and Peacock will also introduce” Sunday Night Basketball “in January.
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Although there have been many questions on why Shedeur Sanders (at the moment is assumed) fell to the fifth round last month NFL Draft, one one who understands that where you offers you the option to be going, just mustn’t be as mandatory as what you do is Tom Brady. Brady, probably the largest playmaker in the history of NFL, winning the 7 Super Bowl championships and diverse league MVP from New England Patrots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was 199. The draft selection in 2000 NFL Draft. It also happens that he’s a friend and mentor of Sanders.
Brady recently visited Logan Paweł’s “Impulsive” and, truly, about Sanders and why he had fallen in the project up to now. Brady said that this is a formidable query, but nobody knows why he fell up to now in the project, ensuring that he was not involved in any evaluation or process (Brady is the owner of the NFL Las Vegas Raiders, who chosen two other playmakers during the 2025 project). Brady made available that he wrote Sanders to give him advice and perspectives when he was waiting for the alternative.
“I actually wrote SMSEUR because I know him very well and I said:” Old, as whatever happens, wherever you go, it’s your first day. Day 2 has greater than a sketch. ” I had 199. Who can discuss it higher?
Brady, clearly, feeling optimistic about the way forward for Sanders, he drew attention to other great players who weren’t a high variety of the draft.
“Wherever you finish … It’s about your performance. What do you do when you get there? Because you will get there. I was near the best players who were unable to free agents. It was Rodney Harrison. Rodney Harrison was not a great choice. Julian Edelman was not a high choice. Wesker was not a high choice. Danny Amendola. All these guys were phenomena.”
Cleveland Browns chosen Sanders with 144. Choosing a draft and enters the playmaker with five other people fighting for the game time: Joe Flacco, Deshaun Watson, Kenny Picket and the second playmaker Browns chosen in Draft 2025, Dillon Gabriel. Given this crowded space, Brady’s message to Shedeur rings loudly.
“So what is the meaning than an excessive day when many people sell stories and says:” All right, it’s an incredible day and this is a project and it is a vital day and it is a funny and I like the proven incontrovertible indisputable incontrovertible proven proven proven undeniable incontrovertible proven undeniable proven proven undeniable proven undeniable incontrovertible indisputable proven incontrovertible indisputable proven undeniable undeniable undeniable undeniable proven undeniable incontrovertible proven undeniable indisputable indisputable undeniable indisputable incontrovertible indisputable incontrovertible incontrovertible proven undeniable indisputable undeniable proven proven proven proven incontrovertible proven undeniable undeniable proven undeniable incontrovertible undeniable undeniable incontrovertible undeniable undeniable indisputable incontrovertible undeniable indisputable indisputable incontrovertible proven undeniable undeniable indisputable indisputable incontrovertible incontrovertible undeniable indisputable incontrovertible proven proven incontrovertible undeniable undeniable incontrovertible proven proven proven incontrovertible proven proven indisputable proven incontrovertible indisputable incontrovertible undeniable proven incontrovertible undeniable incontrovertible undeniable undeniable indisputable proven incontrovertible proven proven proven incontrovertible indisputable proven proven undeniable incontrovertible proven incontrovertible indisputable undeniable indisputable incontrovertible undeniable proven undeniable incontrovertible proven undeniable undeniable undeniable indisputable proven proven undeniable incontrovertible incontrovertible proven proven proven indisputable incontrovertible undeniable indisputable undeniable undeniable undeniable incontrovertible incontrovertible indisputable indisputable proven undeniable undeniable proven undeniable indisputable incontrovertible indisputable indisputable proven undeniable undeniable incontrovertible indisputable undeniable proven indisputable incontrovertible undeniable proven indisputable proven indisputable undeniable proven proven indisputable indisputable incontrovertible incontrovertible incontrovertible undeniable incontrovertible indisputable indisputable proven incontrovertible proven indisputable incontrovertible proven proven undeniable indisputable incontrovertible undeniable undeniable proven undeniable proven proven incontrovertible incontrovertible proven incontrovertible undeniable proven incontrovertible undeniable proven indisputable indisputable undeniable indisputable indisputable indisputable indisputable indisputable incontrovertible indisputable undeniable undeniable undeniable indisputable indisputable undeniable proven proven proven indisputable incontrovertible undeniable proven incontrovertible indisputable indisputable indisputable proven undeniable undeniable proven proven indisputable indisputable incontrovertible proven undeniable incontrovertible proven incontrovertible incontrovertible incontrovertible incontrovertible undeniable undeniable undeniable proven undeniable proven proven incontrovertible proven undeniable proven proven incontrovertible indisputable indisputable indisputable proven indisputable undeniable indisputable undeniable incontrovertible indisputable incontrovertible proven indisputable proven indisputable undeniable incontrovertible incontrovertible proven incontrovertible indisputable proven indisputable proven proven proven indisputable indisputable undeniable proven incontrovertible incontrovertible indisputable undeniable proven indisputable indisputable proven incontrovertible incontrovertible proven incontrovertible undeniable proven undeniable incontrovertible proven undeniable proven incontrovertible undeniable proven indisputable indisputable undeniable incontrovertible indisputable incontrovertible proven proven incontrovertible undeniable undeniable incontrovertible proven indisputable indisputable incontrovertible proven proven undeniable fact that they watch and see it, but I used to be also there on the day of the second day. “
I hope Sanders took Brady’s word to heart – he clearly values the opinion of his mentor. Perhaps due to this relationship Sanders apparently wears Jersey number 12, He wore the same number of brady during his occupation. During highschool and college, Sanders wore Jersey number 2, who was He has recently retired through the University of Colorado, Where Sanders played his last two years of university football.
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Boston – originally of this month, the ESPN basketball analyst, Jay Williams, raped that the Guardian New York Knicks Jalen Brunson was probably the perfect player in Knicks history.
At that point, Williams gave the impression to be a classic prisoner of the moment. Brunson was spectacular in the primary round in the sport with Detroit Pistons. He scored 40 points and distributed seven assists when Knicks eliminated Detroit on the road.
Brunson followed this performance with a pair of catalytic road performances against the defending master Boston Celtics. On Monday, Knicks defeated a 20-point deficit and defeated Boston in overtime 108-105. On Wednesday, Knicks once more beat the 20-point deficit and defeated Boston 91-90 to incorporate a shocking lead of 2-0 of their series of semi-finals of the Eastern Conference. Celtics and Knicks meet in Madison Square Garden on Saturday for the third match (ABC, 15:30 et)
The benchmarks are amazing. Brunson beat your entire Celtics 17-13 team within the last five minutes of each matches. He scored all six points of Knicks within the last two minutes of match 2, including free kicks from 13 seconds. In Wednesday’s performance Brunson became the primary player since 1997, who scored a minimum of 83 points of the fourth quarter in the primary eight matches of two different Playoff (2024 and 2025). Only two NBA players – Kobe Bryant in 2008 and Stephen Curry in 2023 – achieved this feat and did it just once. Of course, curry and bryant have won many NBA titles, but we’ll come to this later.
The point is that Williams couldn’t be such an excellent prisoner of the moment as originally thought. The deadly defect of his logic is that he jumped over Brunson over Walt “Clyde” Frazier.
You cannot hop over the story.
Nathaniel S. Butler/Nbae via Getty Images
The largest Knick? Brunson could be close.
Walt Frazier Close? This is one other matter. The phrase was not only an excellent player, but just like the legend of Willie Mays baseball, Clyde is a mind-set.
The definition of the most important Knick is a matter of taste of the primary generation. There is a sea of great players Knicks: Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Latrell Spent. The thread that connects all of them is that none of them brought New York the NBA championship. The phrase won just a few championships, and in our business – the activities of sport and games – the championship championship and older buildings begins with the victories of the championship.
On May 8, 1970, New York Knicks won his first NBA championship, beating Wilt Chamberlain-Jerry West-Elgin Baylor Los Angeles Lakers 4-3. It was a series by which the phrase strengthened his heritage, not only as Knick, but as one in all the largest players within the history of NBA.
The game of the seventh series is remembered as a game when the middle Knitis Willis Reed heroically got here out of the tunnel in Madison Square Garden after his torn thigh muscle injected the analgesic. Reed was famous for the primary two shots and played a solid defense at Chamberlain. But the phrase had an incredible performance: 36 points, 19 assists and seven rebounds.
The phrase, who turned 80 in March, would turn out to be known for his stylish clothes, cool behavior and ultra-urban lifestyle, however the race race for his icon won.
During the interview “City Game”, a book about basketball in New York, Frazier told me that winning the championships in New York set a table for the Clyde legend.
“Victory is the key in New York,” he said. “The victory allowed me to turn out to be Clyde. Before we won, I dressed well, but no person focused on it. As a debutant I didn’t play well, so to pacify myself, I went shopping and bought clothes. I didn’t play well, but I still didn’t look good. Nobody focused on it until I won. The victory is a catalyst. When I won in New York, I never forced people. There is or Willis Reed or who heard about us.
Brunson shouldn’t be only against the performances of the Frazier on the pitch, but in addition against the icon of culture, which was a product of a certain time and place in New York and the country. The phrase was perhaps the primary NBA player to develop what we now call the brand. His brand was fashion and style and some cool related to black.
In those days, we, young African Americans, tried to interrupt free from negative psychological frames and concentrate on constructing positive black castles. With processed hair. Some of us wore Dashikis and natural hair. Some of us lined with luxurious cars and overalls made to order. All this was designed to win a positive victorious image of black.
Among the black athletes, there was a burden of riot in 1966–70, illuminated by Boxer Muhammad Ali, in addition to the celebrities of Tommy Smith and John Carlos track on the Olympic Games in 1968. Curt Flood opposed Major League baseball stands and led the pursuit of a free agency.
Clyde was born within the south, but he was not fiery. He decided to quietly express his riot and independence through his brave style.
Focus on sports photos/Getty
These forms of prisons are unthinkable for today’s NBA and WNBA players. Everyone is inspired to be their authentic (black). Brunson wears braids, that are blurred and shouting when he maneuvers within the attack.
The phrase wore brilliant colours and hats with a large brim. Coach Knicks, Danny Whelan, began to call the phrase “Clyde” after the hero within the hit film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. The name got stuck.
As a player of Frazer-Jak, Brunson-he was not a high-flying Dencker or the fastest. But just like the jazz pianist Thelonius Monk, the phrase had an impeccable sense of time – he knew when to go for theft, he knew when to make a pass and who he knew when to attain.
Timing.
During the break of Wednesday’s game I asked the legendary columnist columnist Bob Ryan, which he considered comparing Brunson and Clyde – more about what he thought in regards to the phrase. Ryan remembered the Knicks 1970-Clinching match. He was there in the primary yr for a rhythm for. Ryan, currently 79, felt the phrase was the primary.
“Walt Frazier was different because he had an alter ego,” said Ryan. “You know, there was Walt Frazier and he was Clyde, and he played and promoted it. He wanted people to learn about him outside the pitch with a wardrobe, which continues to be happening until that day. And so he created a personality. It distinguishes him from virtually everyone.
Ryan was within the Knicks locker room in 1970, when players finally got here from the celebration of the championships on the pitch. “Clyde comes in, and his first words were and I quote literally.” Man, I want beer. ” It was my major lead – said Ryan.
Film creator Joe Brewster and his wife Michele Stephenson fill in a documentary in regards to the phrase and his cultural importance for New York and for black and white communities within the turbulent seventies. At that point there was an incredibly tense atmosphere with a remnant of a racial turmoil, consequences in New York a hostile teacher’s strike, a trash strike and deep divisions over the Vietnam war.
Four days before winning the Knicks Championship, 4 white students of the Kent State University campus were killed and nine were injured by the National Guard in Ohio within the campus. Students were killed during a rally that opposed the growing involvement of the United States within the war.
In New York and in the entire country, the murder only intensified divisions within the matter of war.
“Times were so different and turbulent,” said 70 -year -old Brewster during a telephone conversation. “People were looking for the Savior. Clyde was a guy who was worshiped in the black community because of his black and worship in the white community because of his closeness from white – and black. He was not loud, he was not bad. He was what he needed at that time white to feel safe. Combination of all these factors.”
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
With black and white stars, Knicks was a perfect band on time.
“Walt would not like it if he heard it, but he was” acceptable “by both populations,” said Brewster. “But his game and lifestyle were as black as anyone, together with his Dandyism to his individuality throughout the collective. “
Brewster was reluctant to say that the phrase “did not threaten”.
“It sounds pejorative,” he said, “and he doesn’t really recognize how important it was for the merger of the city.”
The phrase understood the importance of the team. During the identical interview, “Game City Game” told me that he and his colleagues from the Knicks team knew that Knicks were a really needed salvo for the town.
“On Tuesdays and Saturdays we provided an outlet for people,” said Frazier. “Fans could forget about what was happening in the world and to go and support Knicks. Everything stopped on Tuesdays and Saturdays when they played Knicks. Our team was integrated; fans did not see color. We had (Dave) Debusschere, we had (Bill) Bradley. But the Frazier and Reed were the most popular guys in this band in New York.”
Today, New York is torn by the conflict. This time the war in Gaza created deep divisions over the brutal lack of life. Some lie a bloodshed on the foot of the Israeli government, which accuse of genocide. Defenders say Israel has the correct to defend against Hamas. I can only assume that some factions on either side of the conflict can be fans of Knicks.
Madison Square Garden could be the one space in the town where two sides could have the looks of a truce.
The phrase never publicly threw himself into political struggle in the course of the Knicks Championship within the 70s and I think that Brunson won’t be on the side of the present Knicks Championship. After Wednesday’s match in Boston, I asked Brunson if he thought in regards to the potential influence of the unifying influence of Knicks on the town.
He didn’t.
“I want to say that we are aware,” said Brunson. “Of course, we see what happens after matches, after home matches with what fans do, but I will let them do it and we will focus on it.”
Brunson has all of the features that Knicks prefer to assign a franchise form: mental strength, clutch performances. Can Brunson turn out to be the perfect player of Knicks? Probably. Can Brunson ever eclipse the phrase? This is a way more steep challenge.
The reality is that for those who don’t win the brand new York championships, you may just turn out to be one other face in the gang.
