Storyline: Last week a video surfaced that appeared to show D’Angelo Russell talking to LA Lakers’ teammate, Nick Young, about Young cheating on his rapper fiancée, Iggy Azalea. Here’s my take on the situation.
It’s no secret that external factors influence the sporting world, especially with the ubiquitous presence of social media. So it’s no surprise this week that Los Angeles Lakers rookie, D’Angelo Russell, has become a verb for snitching. Here’s why.
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Last week a video surfaced online that appeared to show Russell talking to teammate, Nick Young, about Young cheating on his rapper fiancée, Iggy Azalea. It’s not clear if SwaggyP knew he was being filmed or if the video was leaked intentionally or not … even if it’s actually Young talking about cheating. But it’s out there now and everyone is in a frenzy.
D’Angelo Russell is the #1 trend on Twitter with over 60,000 tweets being shared about him. In the dimly lit video Russell asked Young (apparently in reference to the age differential between Young and the women): “You was 30 and she was 19?”
Young didn’t know he was being filmed and that’s where the conflict arises. So Russell becomes a snitch or–as this generation is referring to him– as “a snake” (applying the Bible reference when the snake forced Eve to eat the apple after God told her not to).
Does Nick Young lack integrity or did D’Angelo Russell break the “guy code” with his teammate?
The fact of the matter is that’s it’s not okay to tape a conversation without the other person’s permission. Period. It’s an invasion of privacy. The LA Times quoted a person familiar with the situation, saying: ”D’Angelo is sometimes 20 going on 14. They’ve all been trying to prank each other this season. This was a stupid prank.” If a prank was the case, D’Angelo Russell ruined a marriage for some retweets.”
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Young’s fiancee took to Twitter to share her thoughts: @IGGYAZALEA: hmmm I see D Angelo Russell is trending… I actually liked his film. Thanks, bro.
Isn’t it ironic, though, that Twitter is painting D’Angelo Russell as the villain here–and not the man cheating on his fiancee with a 19-year old?
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith proclaimed that Russell will “never be trusted ever again.” And the Lakers were disappointed in Russell’s judgment on the incident.
The incident renews the longstanding argument that players need to say in college longer–certainly more than one year. Players need to develop morality and maturity as well as their basketball skills. This situation speaks volumes about the young generation, especially about how we are too open and susceptible. Russell is only 20 years old–one year older than me–and when you’re young you can do childish things and make mistakes. It’s all part of the growing process.
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Let’s be clear another thing: this isn’t the only time a young Laker made a mistake when it came to exposing a teammate. Let me remind you of the 2004 Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant feud.
Bryant was closely scrutinized and criticized during the 2004–05 season with reputation tarnished. He was 23 years young, accused of rape. He ratted out Shaq by stating: “He would pay his women not to say anything.” He went on to say that his teammate has paid up to millions of dollars already for situations like this.
The incident understandably caused significant distress between these two future NBA Hall-of-Famers … and the team itself. But there wasn’t Twitter, Facebook or memes to propel that situation. The two turned out fine.
Last year Kobe reflected on that incident: “Here’s the thing, though. When you say it at the time you actually mean it and then when you get older you have more perspective and you’re like holy s—t, I was an idiot when I was a kid. To me, the most important thing was really just to keep your mouth shut.”
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It’s evident that D’Angelo Russell made a mistake. But he’s not the first young athlete to make a mistake by exposing a teammate.
Damage has been done. But there’s another angle on this. I’m a firm believer of what’s done in the dark will always come to light. While Iggy Azalea should have known about her fiancee’s unfaithful ways, D’Angelo Russell shouldn’t have been the one to inform her.
We all learn from mistakes, just like Kobe did. I hope Russell will, too.
