The Lakers didn’t have LeBron James on Jan. 15 in Utah, the middle of a stretch during which the team played every other day for almost an entire month. They were stuck in a bit of a malaise, wins over the Clippers and the Raptors erased after the Lakers got smoked by the Suns.
Short-handed and on the road, the light seemed to get extra green for D’Angelo Russell, and the nine-year veteran has never been shy. So he called his number. Again. And Again.
Russell took 26 shots that night in a tight loss to the Jazz, but his aggression fully ignited a thought he had in the weeks prior.