The Los Angeles Lakers have lost 11 straight games to the Denver Nuggets after Thursday's defeat. More importantly, they are down 3-0 and are in danger of getting swept by Denver for the second straight postseason.
Still, the bigger story of Game 3 was the video of starting point guard D'Angelo Russell , who looked like he was eating snacks and toying with his phone while the team was in a huddle.
According to former Chicago Bulls point guard Jay Williams , Russell disengaging himself from his teammates after a poor performance is a sign that he is giving up on his squad. As such, he doesn't deserve to be part of a Lakers group that is struggling to win one game against the defending champions.
"For D'Angelo Russell to check out of a game that way and not even be involved in a team huddle gives me major concern," lashed out Williams. "In two out of three games, he has been a detriment to the Los Angeles Lakers."
No right to disengage from the team
Williams says that even if the Lakers were down and out with three minutes left to play in Game 3, Russell had no reason to do what he did on the sideline because they still have at least one more game to play in the series. And when you have someone like LeBron James on your team, you have to believe that you can still come back and win.
Aside from going scoreless in Game 3, Russell only had 13 points on 6-20 shooting in Game 1. With superstars LeBron and Anthony Davis giving their all in all three games of the series, Jay thinks that DLo did not have the right to disengage himself from the team huddle like that.
"But if I'm Rob Pelinka, if I'm the Los Angeles Lakers, I'm looking at stuff like that, considering the way he played last year when they got swept, and literally, they had to pull him off the floor. You would think that for a guy that talks this way, he will back it up with his defensive play. But to me, his ceiling is nowhere close to where his floor is. Because his floor is extremely low. His ceiling is high, but knowing what you're getting defensively from a guy like DLo, For him to be checked out in the game that way, I don't want him on my roster," Williams added.
DLo's disappearing act
After an impressive bounce-back performance in Game 2 where he hit seven three-pointers in a 23-point display, D'Angelo went 0-7 from the field, including 0-6 from three-point distance in 24 minutes of action in Game 3. With Russell unable to contribute, the Lakers lost 112-05.
DLo has not spoken about his actions. However, ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported that it's likely that the 28-year-old will decline the $18.7 million player option of the two-year contract he signed with the team last summer. Heading to the trade deadline, there were rumors linking him to a Dejounte Murray trade, but the Lakers stood pat and gave Russell the opportunity to finish the season and prove himself.
He did finish the regular season strong, averaging 19.2 points on 3.6 three-pointers per game after the All-Star break. The Lakers, meanwhile, won 12 of their last 15 games to move from tenth to the seventh seed. However, D'Angelo has disappeared again in the playoffs, putting up only 12.0 points on 30.6% from three.
Related: Skip Bayless blames LeBron James for D'Angelo Russell going scoreless in a do-or-die game
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