‘Egoless’ D’Angelo Russell gets honest about new bench role assigned by JJ Redick

Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell addressed his new role coming off the bench following JJ Redick's scathing criticism.

‘Egoless’ D’Angelo Russell gets honest about new bench role assigned by JJ Redick

D'Angelo Russell responds to JJ Redick's new decision

Tensions were high in the Los Angeles Lakers locker room over the past week. After a strong start to the season, the Lakers found themselves in quicksand with a 1-4 record over their last five games. As the team course-corrected with a 106-116 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, Lakers star D’Angelo Russell opened up about his new role assigned by head coach JJ Redick.

Days after benching Russell in the second half against the Grizzlies, Redick decided to shift the former All-Star to the bench. During the Lakers win over the Sixers, first-year HC JJ Redick brought D’Angelo Russell off the bench, opting to start Cam Reddish instead.

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This comes after Redick’s criticism of Russell following the team’s loss to the Grizzlies. In his postgame interview, D’Lo addressed his new role.

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I just want to win. I left all my baggage at the door this summer once we changed coaches.

D’Angelo Russell told reporters after the game

D’Angelo Russell bluntly addressed his new role on the team’s bench. He stated that he was willing to do whatever it took to win. Last year, Russell was benched by former HC Darvin Ham, which Russell did not take well to. However, the Darvin Ham-led Lakers skid further after the benching of Russell last season, forcing the team to bring the dynamic guard back into the starting lineup.

Thankfully for Lakers fans, coach JJ Redick’s initial stint bringing Russell off the bench has worked out well. Russell finished the game with 18 points on 7-12 shooting as the Lakers pulled off a decisive victory against the struggling Sixers. The team was also bolstered by the return of their MVP candidate, Anthony Davis, who led both teams in scoring with a dominant 31 points.

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JJ Redick opens up about recent emotional outbursts

Earlier this week, a clip of JJ Redick expressing his disappointment and frustrations with his team’s performance went viral. The clip showed Redick smashing a chair after an ill-advised sequence of plays by D’Angelo Russell. Redick would immediately pull Russell out of the game, benching him for the rest of the match against the Grizzlies. On Friday, Redick addressed his emotional outburst caught on camera.

I’m not a zombie. That’s what we kind of refer to a non-passionate, non-competitive, non-expressive people. I am not a zombie.

JJ Redick told reporters
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Ahead of the matchup against the Sixers, Redick told the media that his outburst was born out of his competitive spirit and passion for the game. He confirmed that his passion drives him as a coach and as a former player, and it may not be long before we see another outburst of this kind from the rookie HC.