Nearly three months after D’Angelo Russell was quoted in a story saying the Timberwolves held him back, Russell used an appearance on The Pat Bev Podcast to clarify what he feels was taken out of context by a reporter.
“Let’s break it down,” Russell started. “I got to L.A. and I was doing media, doing media, doing media. And there was always this one dude, kind of hanging out behind to catch me by myself and I was like ‘He got a motive.’ I knew he had a motive, I could feel it. So I didn’t really give him nothing. The third time, I didn’t give him… the fourth time he, hung around the media after they said goodbye and I was walking out and he said ‘Can I catch you?'” Russell explained, never naming the reporter in question.
“‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, what’s up man?'” Russell recalled answering.
“You haven’t really spoke on your time in Minnesota. How do you feel?'” the reporter asked, according to Russell.
“I loved it. It was great. It was my first time really playing in a system and I was apart of the system. It was pass, swing, swing. It was all these factors that played into my success,” Russell recalled answering.
“Boom. He ran with what I said and said I felt held back,” he added. “Just to get the clicks. So I never really felt that.”
The “held back” quote was first published in a story by The Athletic‘s Sam Amick, a longtime NBA reporter who previously worked for USA Today and Sports Illustrated.
“I felt like I was held back there, honestly. I just kind of had to be the third option. Some nights, I was a little more aggressive and was kind of being held back. So to be in a position now where I can kind of thrive and be aggressive and it gets guys going, and where the team reflects off of anybody with that type of energy, it’s fun.”
Amick also quoted Russell saying that he’s a “bird that needs to fly and I couldn’t really fly there,” with Russell also noting that he was OK with the plan in Minnesota “because we were winning.”
“Never really said that and I always give Minnesota, [head coach Chris Finch], I always give those guys props and credit because they helped me, they opened my eyes to the game at a level that I didn’t see the game from,” Russell told Beverley.
“I always give them credit. So, when I say held back, it was never held back, it was more or less like I didn’t get to be who I wanted to be. I wanted to be more than they wanted me to be. They allowed me to be and do the things I wanted to do, of course, but as far as finding a home in the NBA it’s a hard thing to do. You know that. So finding a home in Minnesota was something I was trying to do. So I sacrificed, I did more, I did less at times just to make things work. I guess for me expressing that, explaining that, he took that I was being held back. I appreciated Minnesota, bro. I never really felt held back, it was fun.”
The podcast is below and the Minnesota conversation starts at 16:20.
