Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks was a frustrating one for Lakers fans; their team lost, 112-108, and had its three-game winning streak snapped.
In some ways, it was a shootout between D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle, especially in the first half.
Russell was white-hot to start the game. He propelled the Lakers to an early lead, but Randle responded with his own fireworks to put New York in front 62-59 at halftime.
At that point, Russell had 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting while Randle had scored 25. They finished the game with 33 points apiece.
The two were teammates on the Lakers during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons before Russell was traded to the Brooklyn Nets. When asked after the game what it was like to go up against Randle and trade hot streaks with each other, Russell said he has no relationship with the Knicks’ power forward.
"I'm a fan of his game, no relationship…I'm not really friends with anybody, to be honest. On the court there's no love, you just want to battle, try to get the win, and maybe shake hands after."
D'Angelo Russell on former teammate Julius Randle 👀pic.twitter.com/ktP9PSEXsr
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 13, 2023
Many lament the fact that many of today’s players are friends with each other, even when they play on different teams, and that there isn’t enough chippiness or competitiveness as a result. Perhaps Russell has more of an old-school mentality of wanting to beat people rather than be friends with them.
