Written By Baxter Holmes and Marc Stein at ABCNews.com
The Los Angeles Lakers, sputtering to the end of Kobe Bryant’s farewell season with the worst record in franchise history, face a fresh crisis involving prized rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell, according to team sources.
Sources told ESPN.com that some teammates’ trust in Russell is eroding after a video surfaced in the past week that shows Russell recording a private conversation between himself and teammate Nick Young. Young does not appear to realize he is being taped.
The video, which is believed to have come to light last week via the Twitter account of a celebrity gossip site, shows Russell filming Young while asking questions about Young being with other women. Young and Australian rapper Iggy Azalea announced their engagement last June.
While it’s unclear how the video became public, sources say the resulting tension in the Lakers’ locker room in recent days was among the factors that contributed to L.A.’s limp showing in Salt Lake City on Monday night, when they absorbed a 48-point pounding from the Utah Jazz. The loss was the Lakers’ worst in franchise history.
Various Lakers officials are aware of the issue and are dismayed with Russell, sources say, but to this point they have chosen not to intervene.
“Right now,” one source said, “they’re handling it by isolating him.”
Austin Brown, Russell’s agent from Creative Artists Agency, declined to comment when reached Tuesday.
Said one team insider: “This was a prank gone wrong and a mistake by [Russell], and he has to be held accountable, but I would hope he isn’t overly criticized for it.”
The emergence of the video, sources said, has been the talk of the locker room for the past several days and has led to a tangible strain between Russell and some teammates.
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