D’Angelo Russell has never shied away from accepting that his time with the Los Angeles Lakers wasn’t the best of his career. But it seems like if there is one person Russell would blame for his poor stint with that franchise, it’s former Lakers coach, Byron Scott. It is no wonder that after just two seasons in, and Russell was already out of the purple and gold. In fact, even today he holds a torch against Scott and has some harsh words for him.

D’Angelo Russell’s sour relationship with Scott

Russell was the second overall pick by the Lakers in 2015, and the young point guard didn’t really blossom there as he should have. On the other hand, Scott and Russell’s squabbles were common knowledge. But no one knew how bad it was until D’Angelo opened up about it recently.

Jake Fischer’s new book ‘Built To Lose: How the NBA’s Tanking Era Changed the League Forever’ has documented the pair’s relationship in much detail, thanks to D’Angelo giving his insights about it.

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The story goes that Russell was benched during crunch time situations without any justification. While it is said that Scott wanted to do what was best for Russell and coached him from his heart, D’Angelo didn’t see it that way. “He’s an idiot,” said Russell unapologetically.

He even accused Byron of yanking him off of close contests because he wanted to ignite controversy during their post-game media attention. He stated, “I just think he was malicious for no reason. He’s a solid man. But as a coach, he was bad. He was just bad at his job.”

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Did he do anything to fix things with the Lakers coach?

Russell, however, admitted that he never tried to mend his relationship with Scott. He admitted, “I was just young. I used to do all types of shit to avoid talking to him.” In fact, there is evidence that when Russell questioned Scott’s decisions, he wouldn’t even get a decent response.

However, with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Russell is having a different experience altogether. He is achieving great things and his time with the Lakers is long gone.

But it doesn’t look like D’Angelo will ever forget what he could have become with the purple and gold if Scott wasn’t there. Do you think Byron is responsible for derailing D’Angelo Russell’s career?

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