3 days ago
Mavericks' D'Angelo Russell speaks on impact of Nets organization
The Brooklyn Nets are in the early stages of its latest rebuild and there are some around the league wondering if the organization will be able to field a winner soon. Dallas Mavericks guard D'Angelo Russell, who played for Brooklyn last season after being acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in a midseason, still has plenty of good things to say about the Nets.
"It's crazy. Obviously, the city's one thing, but the organization of Brooklyn is different. It's unlike any other. the performance team, coach, everything about Brooklyn is different than you would expect," Russell said when discussing what playing in Brooklyn is like. Russell, the host of "The Backyard" podcast collaborated with Dwyane Wade, the host of "The Time Out" podcast, as part of Fanatics Fest.
"I've been around a league where I came from the Lakers where the structure is not the same," Russell continued. "Then, I go to Brooklyn where it's all structure and it taught me how to be a professional. I always approached the game to where I just was kind of nonchalant and I felt like I could just wing it. When I got to Brooklyn, it taught me how to be a professional."
Russell, 29, spent the first two years of his career with the Lakers after being selected with the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft out of Ohio State. Russell's first stint with the Nets began with the 2017-18 season after Los Angeles traded him to Brooklyn in the offseason. Russell went on to be one of the main reasons for the Nets' turnaround during that time and he even made his first and only All-Star appearance during the 2018-19 season.
Russell's second stint in Brooklyn happened during the 2024-25 season in which his acquisition from the Lakers was regarded as the Nets trying to get draft capital and/or young players in exchange for taking on players with fairly-high salaries like Russell. Despite how much he talked about wanting to stay in Brooklyn, Russell signed with the Mavericks earlier this summer as it looks like he will have more of a chance to play while Kyrie Irving is rehabbing his knee injury.
