Nick Young has, apparently, found a way to forgive Los Angeles Lakers teammate D’Angelo Russell.
The two made headlines last season when Russell secretly recorded Young talking about cheating on then-fiancee Iggy Azalea. The couple, amid rumors and anecdotes of further infidelity from Young, are no longer together. Young appeared unreceptive at best when Russell tried to apologize, and with his engagement now off, it seemed unlikely that the two would ever really make up.
Until now.
From the Los Angeles Daily News‘ Mark Medina:
Young has since dismissed concerns on whether he could coexist with Russell, who represents a significant part of the Lakers’ young roster.
“We’re teammates,” Young told the Southern California News Group. “It’s been so long, so it’s kind of old.
“We’ll be able to work it out. We’ve already been working it out. It is what it is. I can’t be mad forever.”
Young, per Medina, is now even laughing at Russell’s Foot Locker parody of the incident:
It’s good for the Lakers that Nick Young is committed to playing nice with his sophomore running mate. Then again, it’s not like he really has a choice. Russell, 20, is a bigger part of the team’s future. Young has nothing to gain by perpetuating this feud. He has two years and around $11.1 million left on his contract (player option for 2017-18), and whether the Lakers would love to trade him (they would) is irrelevant at this point.
For him to have a place in the NBA beyond his current deal, he needs to carve out an opportunity with whomever he’s playing for. The best way to do that is to keep his head down, avoid rocking the locker room boat and hope that playing time opens up in Los Angeles or another city.
Besides, if we’re being brutally honest, while Russell D’Angelo displayed questionable judgment at best, Nick Young is hardly a victim under the circumstances. Thus, he cannot afford to act like one.
