And now comes the D’Angelo Russell apology tour.
Not that there’s much else he can do after a video that he had taken months ago went public. In that video, teammate Nick Young — who is engaged to pop star Iggy Azalea — talks about sleeping with other women. Russell said that Snapchat video was meant to be a private joke, but as of last week it ended up the Twitter account of a celebrity gossip site and went viral from there.
It has led to teammates shunning Russell, according to reports. Azalea liked the video and thanked Russell, which you know is not good news for Young (Russell admitted as much). And if you were a teammate of Russell’s now, wouldn’t you look askance at him?
Russell apologized profusely, both before the media at Staples Center Wednesday, and to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports before that.“I am sick,” Russell told The Vertical by phone on his drive to the Staples Center on Wednesday. “I am sorry about recording the video. I can’t repeat myself enough on that: I am sorry I recorded that video. I feel horrible. I wish this never happened.”
When asked about how the video left his possession and became public months after it was recorded, Russell told The Vertical: “Honestly, I have no idea. Me and Nick, that’s our friendship: We play around a lot. Anyone who knows him and knows me, they know that about us. But I apologize 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.”
Russell said he feels responsible for hurting Young's personal life. Said he doesn't feel isolated by teammates but acknowledges "bad vibes"
— Sean Deveney (@SeanDeveney) March 31, 2016
Russell: “I know if I’ve lost anybody’s trust I’m going to work my tail off to gain it back.“
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) March 31, 2016
Russell has got a lot of work to do on that trust. He, at least, seems to understand that.
Russell said he apologized to Young, who “heard him out” but didn’t necessarily accept the apology.
Russell repeatedly said he did not know how the video became public, saying he was trying to figure it out. There are reports that Russell posted the video to Snapchat, thinking he could take it down before it was noticed. Russell denied that. If the Snapchat thing were true, that would show a shocking lack of both maturity and understanding of how things work on social media and the Web in general.
Young spoke for less than 30 seconds to the media before Wednesday night’s Laker game.
Young: “I think it’s best me and D’Angelo handle our situation in a private manner. It’s something we need to talk about.”
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) March 31, 2016
Don’t worry, Lakers’ coach Byron Scott will underplay the damage.
Byron admitted he has "some concern" on incident affecting on-court chemistry
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) March 31, 2016