D'Angelo Russell Comments on Rookie Season, Luke Walton and More

Entering his second NBA season, D'Angelo Russell is slated to become a focal point for the Los Angeles Lakers with Kobe Bryant basking in retirement.

Coming off a bumpy rookie year and working with a new head coach, Russell is now able to look back at the 2015-16 season with a different perspective. 

“Last offseason was Looney Tunes,” Russell said Tuesday, per Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. “Wasn’t real. I didn’t get nothing out of it.”

In addition to the offseason being "Looney Tunes," then-head coach Byron Scott did not seem too fond of Russell. 

During an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show (via CBS Sports' Brad Botkin) in May after he was fired by the Lakers, Scott referred to Russell as "entitled" and that he was tough on him "to bring him back down to earth..."

Fast forward to this offseason with just over one month until the regular season begins, and Russell told Ganguli it is "fun," and he feels like the Lakers are growing.

One reason Russell feels better about the state of Lakers basketball is new head coach Luke Walton:

"

I feel like if I came into the league this year, in this environment, it wouldn’t have been as tough. Even if Kobe was here, it still wouldn’t have been as tough. …

The coaching staff, the whole atmosphere that this coaching staff brings is different. I’m not saying better, I’m not downgrading the last coaching staff. I’m just saying the atmosphere they bring every day is a winning mentality.

"

Walton did earn plaudits last year for his work as interim coach of the Golden State Warriors while Steve Kerr was recovering from back surgery. The Lakers current roster isn't nearly as good as what Golden State had last season, but this is a franchise finally moving in the right direction. 

Russell said Walton has been coaching him through the process of being a team leader and has been "giving me the guidance on how to do right." 

Bryant's retirement tour last year, while great for the fans and well deserved because of his legendary career, may have hindered the Lakers' development because all of the focus every night was on him. 

Even though Bryant was running on fumes in his last two seasons, Russell said the retirement tour was something that had to be done. 

“They expected so much from so many people," Russell said, "and then Kobe had his farewell tour, and it was just like, we put everything we had, expectations for everybody else, on hold. We gotta get through Kobe’s farewell tour and then we can continue with our process. So we kind of accepted that.”

With Bryant out of the picture, Russell has a golden opportunity to become the new face of Lakers basketball. He entered the NBA at 19 years old as the No. 2 overall pick for one of the most historic franchises in North American professional sports. 

Things didn't work out well in Russell's rookie season, but the Lakers were a crumbling empire still clinging to that one last vestige from their glory days in the early 2000s. 

Now, with the entire kingdom being rebuilt from scratch, Russell is going to be the key for the Lakers as their second-year point guard leading a talented young nucleus that includes Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and Brandon Ingram.