Cooper Flagg Has High Praise About Playing with D'Angelo Russell

D’Angelo Russell may have been one of the more underrated pickups of the NBA offseason. Some look at him as a score-only point guard who can’t contribute much defensively. However, Russell has had a long and successful NBA career.

Yes, when given a large role, he isn’t the type of player you can build a championship roster around. However, as the fourth or fifth best player on the team, he can be incredibly valuable. 

That’s the role he is set to play in Dallas. With Kyrie Irving out for the foreseeable future, he may be called upon a lot, but when fully healthy, Russell will play his ideal role as a bench scorer for the Mavericks.

Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg had this to say about playing with Russell:

“He’s been an incredible influence so far of just setting the tone at a really high level. Ever since he’s come in and been around, he’s just been setting examples and just being a real role model. Just playing really hard and just playing really smart as well. He sees the game at a different level, so I think I can just learn a lot from him in the way he’s able to pick apart defenses and just use his vision to our advantage.”

Russell hasn’t always been considered “an incredible influence.” But after a decade in the league, he may have changed his reputation. 

Flagg is surrounded by proven veterans with impressive résumés. He is going to get to learn from champions and All-Stars like Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, and Klay Thompson. Now, I guess it’s time to add Russell to the list of role-model veterans to learn from.