Darvin Ham says he told D’Angelo Russell to ‘go crazy’ in Game 4
After a poor Game 3 from D’Angelo Russell, Darvin Ham’s message to his point guard was one of still having confidence in him before Game 4.
D’Angelo Russell’s playoffs have been a wild roller coaster ride of ups and downs. The lows have been as bad as he’s played in a Lakers jersey in Games 1 and 3. The highs, though, have featured about as important production as he’s had in his purple and gold career as well.
In a do-or-die Game 4 on Saturday, Russell poured in 21 points, 14 of which came in the second half. The scoring alone was critical in the win, but the fact that it came one game removed from going 0-7 from the field made it even more impressive.
D’Lo is a supremely confident player who doesn’t need much in the way of pep talks. However, head coach Darvin Ham provided him some words of encouragement before the important Game 4.
“I told him to go crazy,” Ham said. “‘Be confident. You’ve been doing this your whole life. Go crazy and be aggressive.’ He looked at me – his little nickname for me is Big Dog – and said ‘I got you Big Dog. I got you.’ Shook my hand, gave me a hug and did what he did tonight. So proud of that kid.”
And D’Lo’s response to that? Well, just the most D’Lo quote you could imagine.
“I appreciate that,” Russell said. “But I believe in myself, simple as that. I don’t need that, but I appreciate that.”
Russell’s belief powered him to a very important performance. For the first time these playoffs, all four of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and D’Lo played well in the same game. And it’s not a coincidence that the Lakers finally earned a win as a result.
As one of the more divisive players on the team, Russell is no stranger to being at the center of criticism. Reaves spoke about how impressive it was for Russell to bounce back in Game 4 despite all the attention thrown his way after Game 3.
“He was amazing,” Reaves said. “Just the style of basketball that he plays, we need him to be at his highest level for us to be successful. I think tonight, that’s what he did. You tip your hat off to a guy like that because the world’s killing him after Game 3 for the performance that he has. It’s probably a lot easier than ya’ll think to really go home and let all that distract you but he didn’t. You have to tip your hat to a guy like that. It just shows how much we need him.”
The problem is the Lakers and Russell have been in this exact situation two games ago. The challenge for D’Lo is doing this two games in a row. If the Lakers want to extend their season, they need Russell to consistently be a positive offensively.
It was impressive to see him bounce back, but it’d be way cooler if he just kept up this level of play now.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.