Talk about a bittersweet ending.
D’Angelo Russell went bonkers in the Los Angeles Lakers’ Thursday night loss to the Sacramento Kings, setting a new career-high with 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting. He also pitched in four assists and two steals.
Is that good?
It seems good.
Oh, it’s good:
NBA players since 1985 to post 27 PTS, 4 AST, 2 STL & 65 FG% before 20th birthday (via @bball_ref): 1. LeBron James 2. D’Angelo Russell
— Dan Favale (@danfavale) January 8, 2016
D’Angelo Russell might have actually improved upon his performance if not for suffering a right ankle injury late in the fourth quarter. Luckily for the Lakers and their rookie, X-rays showed no broken bones, per Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times:
X-rays on D'Angelo Russell's right ankle showed there were no broken bones. Moderate ankle sprain, Lakers say.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) January 8, 2016
The Lakers will play host to the Oklahoma City Thunder Friday night, and it’s unclear if Russell could be held out for precautionary reasons, or whether he would need to possibly sit a few games to let his ankle heal.
Whatever happens, Russell wants people to know this is only the beginning—not the onset of an injury-infested career, but the start of many, many more absurd performances, per ESPN.com’s Baxter Holmes:
“Y’all ain’t seen nothing yet,” Russell said of his performance. “That’s all I’m going to say. … The world hasn’t seen anything yet.”
That settles it.
Russell most definitely needs to play against the Thunder, and in every subsequent Lakers game after, so that we may finally stop seeing nothing and start seeing something.
