D’Angelo Russell Refuses to Break While LeBron James Has Cooper Flagg and Mavericks Bench Wheezing (VIDEO)
D’Angelo Russell was not amused by LeBron James’ charm at the Dallas Mavericks bench. The Lakers faced the Mavs in an NBA Cup game on Friday, and during the game’s first quarter, James tried to entertain the visitors.
The Lakers star made some comments near the Mavericks’ bench that had the visitors laughing. Even the Mavs star rookie, Cooper Flagg, could not hold himself back and wheezed out a smile at James’ jokes.
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However, LeBron James’ former teammate, D’Angelo Russell, remained as cold as ice. The Mavs point guard was sitting on the bench with a stoic expression on his face while his teammates had wide grins on their faces.
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James and Russell have spent the 2023-24 season playing together on the Lakers. However, it looks like a single season was not enough to make Russell laugh at the Lakers superstar jokes while being on another team.
The Purple and Gold traded Russell and Maxwell Lewis to the Brooklyn Nets in December 2024, in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton. The Nets played D’Lo for the 2024-25 season and let him walk away as a free agent. At the start of the 2025-26 season, the former Lakers signed a two-year $11.6 million deal with the Mavericks.
LeBron James once said he hated D’Angelo Russell’s departure
On Dec 30, 2024, Jovan Buha had asked LeBron James for his thoughts on Dorian Finney-Smith after the Lakers traded D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets. Before giving his thoughts on the now-Rockets forward, James gave a shout-out to his former teammates and praised his mentality.
“First of all, big shout-out to D’Lo and Max-Lew,” James said. “They’re brothers of ours, and we hate to see anyone leave at any point of the season.”
LeBron James on what Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton bring to the Lakers:
However, D’Angelo Russell was not a fan of his unplanned departure from LA. In August, the now-Mavs guard dissed the Lakers while praising the Nets on Dwyane Wade’s “Wy Network” podcast.
“I came from the Lakers where the structure is not the same, and then I go to Brooklyn where it’s all structure and it taught me how to be a professional,” Russell said.
D’Angelo Russell opens up about the difference of structure being on the Lakers versus the Nets: “I came from the Lakers where the structure is not the same, and then I go to Brooklyn where it’s all structure and it taught me how to be a professional.” 💯
D’Angelo Russell is struggling to earn a more dependable role on the Mavericks squad. He is playing as a bench option for the team, having started only 3 games in 17 appearances. He is averaging 11.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game on 39.2% shooting.
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Edited by Avi Shravan
