Gilbert Arenas lambastes D’Angelo Russell for his performance against the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. Specifically, Arenas chastises Russell for seldom shooting in Game 4 after being seen getting up extra shots postgame earlier in the series.
While it’s specious to place the brunt of the blame on any one player, Arenas wants it to be known that Russell deserves his fair share. When asked about his performance, the former All-Star berated Russell’s lack of aggressiveness. Furthermore, he questioned why the 27-year-old — as well as his other teammates — weren’t practicing with LeBron James prior to the game.
“I didn’t sleep last night,” Arenas said on his show, Gil’s Arena. “I was running through trains. This is the last game of the season, Bron is there at one o’clock — what the f*ck was the rest of y’all doing? At home, sleep. Sleep. Sleep — they want to shoot shots after the game. What the f*ck you shooting after the game. You should’ve shot them during the game.
D-Lo, how many shots did he take after last game? Probably like 200. To come the next game and take 2 shots? Get the f*ck off my team. What the f*ck you doing on my team for? He took two that I seen. I only seen two.
If I’m watching you, you taking 200-300 shots and you in the NBA game, the last game, and you take four f**king shots. Alright, good job — get the f*ck off my team.”
In the Western Conference Finals, Russell averaged 6.3 points, 3.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds. Moreover, in Game 4, he posted four points, two rebounds, and two assists.
