Lakers coach Byron Scott is having a hard time motivating point guard D'Angelo Russell. The same can't be said for Nuggets point guard Emmanuel Mudiay.
Los Angeles had Mudiay work out during the spring but decided to draft Russell with the second pick overall instead. And prior to their meeting earlier this week, Scott mysteriously pointed out he didn't think Mudiay was a true point guard.
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The Denver point guard had a message for Scott, following the Nuggets' 120-109 victory over Los Angeles on Tuesday, in which Mudiay had 12 points and 10 assists.
Emmanuel Mudiay, after collecting 10 assists tonight: "Thank you Byron Scott for saying I'm not a point guard." #Nuggets— Chris Dempsey (@dempseypost) November 4, 2015
Mudiay, who also had six turnovers, admitted before the game that the Lakers bypassing him for Russell was a source of inspiration for him.
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"They passed up on me; that's definitely a motivation," Mudiay said. "They took another point guard ahead of me. I'm a point guard. So I guess they saw something in [Russell] that they didn't see in me."
Scott gave an honest, if poorly timed, assessment a day before the Lakers-Nuggets game when asked what may have prompted him to vote to pass on Mudiay during the guard's two pre-draft workouts in Los Angeles.
"I didn't think he was a true point guard," Scott said of Mudiay. "I didn't think he was a guy who made great decisions when we saw him and had him here. I thought that was something he would have to learn to do to run that position."
Russell actually shot better than Mudiay -- he was 3-of-11 from the floor while Mudiay was 3-of-13 -- and finished with six assists himself, but he did not play in the fourth quarter for the second time in four games this season.
That drew questions from reporters to Russell as to what he needs to show the Lakers coaching staff to get the coaches to trust him in the fourth quarter.
Frustrated D'Angelo Russell was asked what he needs to do to get on the court in 4Q. "I have no idea. ... Something I got to deal with."— Bill Oram (@billoram) November 4, 2015
It's just the latest piece of bad buzz for a team with lofty expectations but a 0-4 start.
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