Getty D'Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers
On March 22, the Los Angeles Lakers secured a much-needed victory over the Phoenix Suns, but it was D’Angelo Russell who inadvertently stole the headlines.
During a time-out, Russell was caught on a hot mic as he trolled referee Scott Foster, who has a long-standing track record of questionable decisions against the Suns.
“Scott Foster reffing y’all… Scott Foster.”
D’Angelo Russell during a Lakers timeout 😂
“Scott Foster reffing y’all… Scott Foster,” Russell was caught saying as he dapped up his teammates on the Lakers bench.
The Lakers’ win over Phoenix was in large part due to their dominance in getting to the free-throw line, with the purple and gold taking 46 attempts from the charity stripe, more than double the 20 that the Suns took throughout the contest.
Russell came away from the Suns game with 26 points, 6 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 2 blocks while shooting 69.2% from the field and 50% from three-point range on 3-of-6 shooting.
Monty Williams Raves About ‘Unfair Whistle’
When speaking to the media following the Lakers’ win over Phoenix, Suns head coach Monty Williams raved about what he perceived to be a biased performance from the game officials.
“I can sit here and rant and rave about what I feel like is not a fair whistle,” Williams said. “It’s just not. Forty-six free throws. We’re attacking the rim. I’m getting explanations about we’re taking too many jump shots, midrange jump shots. We’re playing a physical game. They had 27 free throws in the first half. They end up with 46. When do you see a game with 46 free throws for one team? Like, that’s just not right. I don’t care how you slice it. It’s happening to us too much.
Other teams are reaching, other teams are hitting, and we’re not getting the same call, and I’m tired of it. It’s old. Fort-six to 20 free throws with Devin Booker on our team. He gets 12. I mean, our bench had no free throws. It’s just- I’m over it. Been talking about the same thing for a while. Doesn’t matter what team it is. I’m tired of talking about free throws. Our guys have to do their job. We understand that, but that’s a huge disparity. 46 free throws, and I’ll say it again, 46 to 20. That’s it. That’s all I gotta say.”
Following their latest win, the Lakers moved to ninth in the Western Conference and are tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the eighth seed but still sit 1.5 games behind the Golden State Warriors, who are in sixth.
Anthony Davis Prasies D’Angelo Russell
During his own post-game press conference, superstar forward Anthony Davis took a moment to praise Russell’s performance against Phoenix, crediting his ability to control and read a game.
“His scoring ability, his communication, his playmaking. He does a lot for us,” Davis said about Russell. “Making big shots. He’s getting the crowd involved like he did tonight. So having a player like that takes a lot of pressure off everyone else. The time that he was out, we missed him.”