After the sensitive material has been made public when Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell taped a conversation with teammate Nick Young, the incident has caused locker room-wide issues for the struggling club.
According to a ESPN report, a celebrity gossip site shared earlier this week a brief video from Russell, who was recording teammate Nick Young talking about dating other women. The recording was apparently made without Young's knowledge. The NBA players is engaged to rapper Iggy Azalea.
After the video he took made its way to social media, a rift that has developed between the point guard Russell and his teammates. The Los Angeles Lakers rookie offered an apology. Addressing the media on Wednesday, Mar 30, Russell said he feels "as sick as possible" over the situation.
Former athletes are having a hard time seeing how teammates could ever trust him and how Russell's reputation will ever recover. The home crowd booed Russell when was announced in Wednesday's starting lineup. The NBA player announced after the game that he expected the audience reaction.
According to CBS Sports, it's unclear how the video became public, but the fallout has been severe. NBA critics say the resulting tension in the Lakers' locker room contributed to L.A.'s loss in Salt Lake City on Monday night. The Los Angeles Lakers took a 48-point pounding from the Utah Jazz, one of Lakers' worst losses in franchise history.
Lakers officials are dismayed with Russell, according to the sources, but they have chosen to not intervene to this point. One source said that they handle the incident right now by isolating Russell. Russell's agent from Creative Artists Agency, Austin Brown, declined to comment.
One team insider described the incident as a prank gone wrong. He added that Russell had to be held accountable for his but it's not for the best if the player gets "overly criticized for it."
