Los Angeles Lakers

Lakers fans let D'Angelo Russell know how much he let them down

Published Mar. 31, 2016 2:41 a.m. ET

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Jovan Buha

LOS ANGELES — The boos at Staples Center started off faint, as Los Angeles Lakers fans were hesitant to root against their future in Wednesday's 102-100 overtime win over the Miami Heat.

But as all of the emotion of the worst season in franchise history boiled over, fans unleashed their pent-up frustration on D'Angelo Russell, in the aftermath of the latest Lakers scandal — a leaked viral video that the rookie recorded of teammate Nick Young discussing his involvement with other women, despite being engaged to rapper Iggy Azalea.

And Russell acknowledged he deserved some backlash. In a way, he betrayed Lakers fans just as much as he did Young and his teammates.

Lakers fans, arguably the most satiated fans in all of sports given the franchise's history of success, have been desperate for a future star, a savior, after things went south during the 2012-13 season and have continued to spiral out of control ever since.

Russell, a talented floor general with the requisite skill set, confidence and moxie, has appeared to be that guy at times this season, causing many Lakers fans to fall for him.

Yet those same fans felt they had no choice but to boo their potential franchise cornerstone on Wednesday, feeling betrayed and let down after supporting him for so long in the face of head coach Byron Scott's incessant criticism.

All season, Scott has torn the 20-year-old down, pointing out every flaw and rarely giving him the benefit of the doubt. It made little sense at times. But Scott's comments helped some Lakers fans get behind Russell despite his up-and-down play.

The more Scott has pushed the narrative that Russell isn't ready for the spotlight, or that he's too immature to start or close games, the more Lakers fans have challenged that notion, particularly as the losses continued to pile up. Plenty of fans have criticized Scott and called for his job.

But with this video leaking, whether intentionally or not, and all of the betrayal and immaturity associated with it, Russell let down Lakers fans who have been rooting for him and defending him all season.

This confirms to an extent what Scott and others around the Lakers organization have been saying about Russell all season. Indeed, he has a maturity problem, and there are legitimate concerns about whether he can be trusted at this point.

Russell broke an athlete's code, an unwritten rule about keeping private matters within the team. That's a cardinal sin in his teammates' eyes, evidenced by them ignoring him on the bench and not clapping when he scored at times on Wednesday.

Russell addressed the media and publicly apologized before the game, but it was too late. As he admitted, the damage had been done. The trust lost. Bridges broken. Some teammates may never forgive him, and even if they do, they may never look at him the same. As trivial as this appears from an outsider's perspective, this issue is a much bigger deal in a locker room.

"I can't really show my face anywhere without people hating me right now," Russell said. "I try to handle it the right way."

Fans booed him during intros, which was expected. Then, when he first touched the ball, and for several possessions after that. The boos peaked during Russell's first free-throw attempt in the first quarter, which he made.

Despite the adversity and a rough shooting night, Russell played better as the game progressed and finished with 16 points on 6-of-19 shooting to go with four rebounds and one assist in 35 minutes.

By the end of the night, Lakers fans were cheering for Russell in overtime — especially after he started things off with a key 3-pointer — and the animosity toward him had cooled.

"You can't undo the damage that's been done," Russell said. "All you can do is stay apologetic and come from the heart and show how much you care and how sorry you are to your teammates for putting them through something like this that could tear a locker room apart. It's on me. I messed up."

The relationship between Russell and Lakers fans is far from over. Russell may be a Laker for years to come, and he'll probably lead the rebuild in some form or fashion, helping fans get over this bump in the road.

Lakers fans, as with most fans in general, have shown that winning and time heal almost all wounds. Russell is still so young, and mistakes can be forgiven.

If Russell leads the Lakers out of the rubble and to the promised land, this will all be forgotten, or at least a distant memory. But if he never reaches his potential, and never helps the Lakers recover from the current mess they're in, this could be an incident that haunts Russell throughout his career.

Russell being booed at home again almost certainly won't last, as it predictably faded Wednesday night. Russell has owned up to his mistake, and the only way to fix things with Lakers fans, who may be the only group willing to forgive him right now, is to fulfill his potential and grab the torch that awaits him.

"If it doesn't [change him], it's a big failure," Scott said. "I think this got his attention."

Jovan Buha covers the NBA for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @jovanbuha.

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