Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell is having arguably his best season as a professional basketball player, and a lot of that has to do with his play over the past couple of months since being re-inserted into the starting lineup and its incredible effectiveness beyond that. the bow.
His 42.4% from 3-point range is a career best by almost 3%. He had never shot over 40% in a season before 2023-24. His 173 3-pointers this season are closing in on the 30-year-old record set by Nick Van Exel.
During the 1994-94 season, Van Exel hit 183 triples, a Lakers franchise record that has stood the test of time. A few players have come close, like Kobe Bryant in 2005-06 with 180, but none have topped that number of 183. Now, with 16 games remaining in the season, Russell is 11 years away from doing so.
The Lakers guard explained what it would mean for him to break a long-standing Lakers franchise record and what his goals are with the record.
“It would be a huge honor to put my name in this category,” Russell said. “But for me, I feel like if I had never left, I would have done something like that. With so much confidence, I’m going to keep that in mind and at the same time, I’m still trying to break that record, not just get it.
If Russell plays the remaining 16 games at his current average, he is on pace to make 218 triples, which would certainly be considered breaking the franchise record of 183. He hits just under three 3-pointers per game, meaning it should take him about four games to break that record set by Van Exel 29 seasons ago.
This is a huge deal for Russell, as he is doing this with the team that drafted and traded him in order to clear the salary necessary to start the building blocks of this current team. And there’s no denying that Russell’s impact on the 2023-24 Lakers has been felt. Now this will also go down in the history books.
D’Angelo Russell says injuries kept Lakers from clicking
For most of the season, the Lakers as a team have been disappointing, but the team finally seems to be starting to figure things out as the latter part of the season begins, just like they did last year last.
But comparing this season to last, Russell highlighted constant injuries the Lakers suffered by harming their ability to build that necessary chemistry.
“I think this year the injuries kind of kept us from clicking early. So we don’t really have that consistency in what we’re trying to do, or what we’re doing from game to game,” Russell said after Tuesday’s practice. “It’s always like two guys stepping up to do something that they probably didn’t do in the last game, or didn’t do in the last 10 games just because of injuries.
“I think everyone has to keep that confidence knowing that you’re going to have a chance…I just think the injuries kind of set us back this year. Last year we were fresh, the group change kind of gave us new energy, so that’s always good.
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