D'Angelo Russell

At 28 years old, D'Angelo Russell has this physical status:

D'Angelo Danté Russell (born February 23, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He was selected as a McDonalds All-American in 2014, and played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes before being selected with the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Playing point guard, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team with the Lakers in 2015.

He was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 2017, and received his first All-Star selection in 2019.

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High school career

Russell began attending Central High School in Louisville, Kentucky, as a freshman in 2010–11 before transferring to Montverde, Florida, for his sophomore season. In 2014, he helped Montverde win back-to-back High School National Tournament championships alongside Ben Simmons. He appeared in the McDonald's All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic later in his career.

Russell committed to Ohio State on June 7, 2013, choosing the Buckeyes over Louisville, Michigan State, and North Carolina. Russell was rated as a five-star recruit by Rivals.com.

College career

Russell appeared for college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes for one season. In a victory over Maryland on January 9, 2015, he scored a career-high 14 rebounds in a victory over Northwestern, who then scored a career-high 33 points in a win over Northwestern on January 21, 2015. Russell had a triple-double on February 8, with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in a 79–60 victory over Rutgers. This was the first triple-double for an Ohio State freshman. Russell scored 28 points in a 75-72 overtime victory over VCU during the NCAA Tournament. However, the Buckeyes' season came to an end in the next round with a 73–58 loss to Arizona. Russell was named recipient of the Oscar Robertson Prize, Wayman Tisdale Award, and Jerry West Award. He was selected as a consensus first-team All-American, as well as first-team All-Big Ten and Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Russell averaged 19.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.6 steals in 33.9 minutes per game in 35 games for Ohio State between 2014 and 2015.

Russell signed for the NBA draft on April 22, 2015, forgoing his final three years of college eligibility. Several scouts and reporters had him to be one of the top prospects in the 2015 draft, with his scouts and reporters naming him as one of the best prospects.

Professional career

Russell was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft on June 25, 2015. Russell scored four points, three rebounds, and two assists in just under 26 minutes in his Lakers' season opener on October 28, 2015. In a 112–111 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on December 4, he recorded his first double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. In the fourth quarter of the Lakers' 118–115 loss to the Sacramento Kings on January 7, 2016, he scored 11 of his 27 points. Russell was a member of the 2016 Rising Stars Challenge, where he scored 22 points and seven assists in Team USA's win over Team World. In a 107-101 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, he set career highs with 39 points and eight three-pointers on March 1, setting a new high. His 39 points were the most by any rookie in 2015–16, and the most by a Lakers rookie in a regular season game since Elgin Baylor had 55 in March 1959. Nick Van Exel's new rookie Laker record of six points in a single game was beaten by his eight three-pointers. He spent the 2015-2016 season with the Lakers and all rookies in steals per game, and became the youngest player to reach 130 three-pointers in a season. He earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors shortly.

Russell scored 20 points in the Lakers' season opener on October 26, 2016, defeating the Houston Rockets 120–114. In a 125-118 victory over the Nets on November 15, he scored a season-high 32 points. Due to knee and calf injuries, he missed time between November and January. With 22 points, a career-high ten assists, and seven rebounds in his return from a three-game absence due to two mild leg injuries, the Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets by a score of 120–116. With 11 against the Washington Wizards in the following game on February 2, he set a new career high for assists. In a 125–120 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 19, he scored a career-high 40 points.

Russell and Timofey Mozgov were traded to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Brook Lopez and Kyle Kuzma's rights, making him the 27th pick in the 2017 NBA draft. Russell's Snapchat interview with Nick Young, in which Russell secretly recorded Young's admission that he cheatered on then fiancee Iggy Azalea, was a factor in his decision to fire Russell.

Russell had 30 points and five assists in a 140-131 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Russell's first appearance for the Nets in their season opener on October 18, 2017. In a 122-114 loss to the Phoenix Suns on October 31, he scored a season-high 33 points. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and was then barred from attending indefinitely. On January 19, he returned to action against the Miami Heat after missing 32 games. In a 101–95 victory, he went 1-for-5 from the field. Russell scored 22 points in a 116-108 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on January 31, his best show since knee surgery. In a 108–103 loss to the Indiana Pacers on February 14, he had 18 points and nine assists off the bench, becoming the first Nets player to score 15+ points and 5+ assists off the bench in three straight games since Orlando Woolridge in 1986–87. In a 111–96 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, he started on February 22 for the first time since November 11 and scored 19 points on 7-of-16 shootings. In a 129–123 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on February 27, he had a 25-point effort. In the first quarter of the Nets' 116–102 loss to the Toronto Raptors on March 13, he scored 24 of his 32 points. Russell's 24 points in the first quarter were the most by a Net in the first quarter after Vince Carter's 24 against Boston on April 4, 2005. In a 116–112 loss to the Raptors on March 23, he scored his first double-double with 18 points, 13 assists, and 11 rebounds. Terrence Williams had one against Chicago on April 9, 2010, making Russell's triple-double the first for the Nets since Terrence Williams had one against Chicago.

Russell had a career-high nine 3-pointers and 31 points in a 120-113 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 12, 2018. In a 127-125 loss to the 76ers on November 25, he had his highest scoring total with the Nets, scoring 38 points, eight assists, and eight rebounds. In a 115-110 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on December 18, he had 22 points and a career high-tying 13 assists. In a 126-121 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on January 2, he had 22 points and 13 assists. In the third quarter of the Nets' 109-102 victory over the Boston Celtics on January 14, he scored 18 of his 34 points out of 34 points. In a 117–115 victory over the Orlando Magic on January 18, he tied his career high with 40 points. He was also named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, January 14, to Sunday, January 20. It was his first week as a Week Player of the Week award. He made his first All-Star pick as a substitute for injured All-Star Victor Oladipo in the 2019 game on February 1, 2019. In a 127-125 loss to the Raptors on February 11, he added 28 points and a career-high 14 assists. In the third overtime of the Nets' 148–139 triple-overtime victory over the Cavaliers on February 13, he scored 14 of his 36 points. In a 117-115 victory over the Hornets, he tied a career high with 40 points on February 23, setting a new record. Russell scored 27 of his career-high 44 points in the fourth quarter, determining the Nets' 123-121 victory over the Sacramento Kings after trailing by as many as 28 people. In the fourth quarter, he had four 3-pointers, beating Allen Crabbe's single-season franchise record of 201 3-pointers. In a 148-144 double-overtime loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on March 25, he had 39 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.

Russell made the Nets the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference during the regular season with a 42-40 record. Russell scored 26 points in Game 1 of the Nets' first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, leading Brooklyn to a 111–102 victory.

Russell's initial request on June 28, 2019 was considered a qualified free agent by the Nets in order to make him a restricted free agent.

Russell, Shabazz Napier, and Treveon Graham were all traded to the Golden State Warriors as part of Kevin Durant's sign-and-trade deal. Russell had a career-high 52 points on 37 shots in a 125-119 overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 8. Russell made a career-best 23.6 points per game during his lone season on Golden State.

Russell was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves along with Jacob Evans and Omari Spellman for Andrew Wiggins, a safe future first-round draft pick and a future second round draft pick. Russell is close friends with Karl-Anthony Towns and has fulfilled his aspirations of playing together in the NBA. In a 137–126 loss to the Toronto Raptors, he debuted for Minnesota four days later, scoring 22 points and five assists. He missed the first game of a back-to-back against the Denver Nuggets on February 23, suffering his sore knee. Since the game was televised on NBA TV, the visiting Timberwolves were found to have violated the NBA's policy against resting healthy players and fined $25,000, becoming the first team to be fined since the policy was announced in 2017.

Russell led the Timberwolves to a 119–114 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on February 24, 2022, with a season-high 37 points and 9 assists. Russell scored 29 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on April 12, 2022, after Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out with 7 minutes remaining.

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