Former NBA guard Nick Young seems to have enjoyed seeing D’Angelo Russell be shipped away from the Los Angeles Lakers for the second time, with the former Laker tweeting: “Dnt bring yo a*s back to LA,” reigniting their beef from an incident stemming almost 10 years ago.
In 2016, Russell and Young had been teammates on the Lakers in a tough year for the organization, with what also had been Kobe Bryant’s last year in the NBA.
Russell had been a bright spark of the team as an impressive rookie point guard, but he had found himself alienated from the rest of his teammates after news had emerged that he had been recording teammates’ conversations and leaking them to friends – one which was said to have included information on Young having adulterous relations with other women while being engaged to rap star Iggy Azalea.
Around this time, Azalea had broken off her engagement with Young, with the NBA star going on to reveal that Russell does not like him and had purposely leaked the videos, Russell denied this, but later apologised for the video. He said: “I am sorry about recording the video. I cant repeat myself enough on that: I am sorry I recorded that video. I feel horrible. I wish this never happened.”
When asked how the video became public, he said: Honestly, I have no idea. Me and Nick, thats our friendship: We play around a lot. Anyone who knows him and knows me, they know that about us. But I apologise for recording that video. I never intentionally wanted to hurt anyone. I never wanted what was said in there to get out. It was my fault that it did, but that was never intentional.”
Speaking on his version of the story, Young said: “We joked around, played around all the time, said crazy things, and this just got in the wrong hands. It wasnt a prank. It wasnt something for everyone else to see. It was for my eyes, his eyes only. That was it.
After the incident, Lakers teammates had become extremely angered by Russell and he found himself traded away from the team just a few months later despite him being seen as one of their cornerstone players moving forward.
Young would stay with the team, having a four year stint with his hometown Lakers before eventually moving on to the Golden State Warriors – where he won an NBA Championship alongside Steph Curry. But Young still clearly holds some resentment towards Russell, with he and Azalea never rekindling their relationship.
Russell eventually returned to the Lakers but has now been traded to the Brooklyn Nets for the second time after a deal was agreed this past weekend, with him potentially even being waived by the team to save salary cap – potentially becoming available for a new team to acquire.
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