D'Angelo Russell Booed at Barclays Center During Appearance After Lakers Trade

D'Angelo Russell's first appearance at the Barclays Center as a member of the Brooklyn Nets did not go as planned, with fans booing him when he was introduced at Sunday's BIG3 opening event.

Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post reported it was more than just a smattering of boos from the Brooklyn crowd.

The Los Angeles Lakers traded Russell and Timofey Mozgov to the Nets last week in exchange for Brook Lopez and Kyle Kuzma, the No. 27 overall pick in Thursday's draft.

Russell, 21, was the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft. He's shown flashes of brilliance during his first two NBA seasons but has been inconsistent on the court and a bit of a headache off it.

Bill Oram of the SoCal News Group reported the Lakers had been "frustrated" with Russell since he arrived. Lonzo Ball, who went to the Lakers with the second pick Thursday, should immediately take over as their starting point guard.

As for why fans in Brooklyn would boo Russell, there are a number of potential explanations.

The BIG3 is co-founded by Ice Cube, a notorious Lakers fan and Los Angeles native. There was almost certainly a heavy contingent of Los Angeles-based people in the crowd, many of whom would presumably be Lakers fans.

Aside from the L.A. contingent, this was not a Nets event. There's no fandom polling data, but odds are Nets fans were in the vast minority.

Nets fans who are upset about the deal are also more likely angered about the departure of Lopez than anything. Lopez spent his first nine seasons with the club, overcoming career-threatening foot problems to become the franchise's leading scorer. He's been the only consistently watchable player on dreadful teams the last two years.

If Russell can realize his potential, odds are all Nets fans will quickly come around.