Jan 9, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Toronto Raptors guard Dennis Schroder (17) goes to the basket against Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell (1) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA crowd recently witnessed a heated exchange as D’Angelo Russell and Dennis Schroder engaged in some serious trash-talk. In the recent home game of the Los Angeles Lakers against the Toronto Raptors, the point guards exchanged a few seemingly harsh words. Soon after that, the audio of the entire exchange between the former teammates surfaced on X (formerly Twitter), revealing the details.

A foul call in favor of D’Lo while being guarded by Schroder sparked the interaction between them. Right after the call, the Lakers guard displayed the ‘too small’ gesture to tease the German star in front of the home crowd. The Raptors guard broke his silence then and there as he called his opponent, “Weak a** n***a”.

“Do something,” Russell responded to Schroder after turning back before adding, “Ight”. “You’re not gonna hit this one,” the visitor’s player declared to raise the bar of the challenge as the Lakers star prepared to take a free throw. Interestingly, the 27-year-old missed his opportunity to walk the talk as he failed to make his efforts count on that occasion.

In another possession, the Raptors again saw a foul called against them while Schroder was dictating the play. While the 30-year-old was left surprised by the call, Russell taunted him with a smile. “That s**t is weak,” the Lakers guard told the international star before shoving him with his elbow right in front of the referee.

“What’s that?” Schroder asked the 2019 All-Star, before issuing a warning for him, mentioning, “Don’t do that s**t”. The teammates of both the players intervened and the situation fortunately did not escalate from there. Yet, Russell was far from letting things go as he declared, “Stop doing that weak a** s**t”.

It displayed the competitive spirit of both NBA stars as their competition for the same position last season might have played a role in the exchange. In the previous campaign, both of them had to fight for the starting spot on the Lakers. This could have had a lingering effect on their actions as the seeming harshness showcased their seriousness. In the end, Russell had the last laugh as the Lakers defeated the Raptors 132-131 to bring their win percentage back to 50%.

The instance again shed light on the competitive nature of D’Angelo Russell

Throughout his career, D’Lo has engaged himself in several such exchanges with one such situation taking place in the final of the in-season tournament. Around the 52-second mark of the game, he received a foul call in his favor as Indiana Pacers’ Bruce Brown guarded him. “That’s two,” the 6’3″ star told Brown soon after getting the call.

“Sub,” he told the opponent while pointing towards the Pacers bench before adding, “N***a talk too much”. “Walk your a** down,” the Kentucky-born mentioned during the exchanges before throwing a challenge to Brown. “Come back and shoot them out of the game,” the Lakers guard stated while displaying his fearlessness.

It captured the mentality of Russell on the big stages as he channeled it once again in the recent matchup. His approach of never backing down against the opposition has fueled his growth as a player. But at the same time, it has made him a controversial figure on the court at times. All in all, situations such as these are bound to reoccur as he refuses to let go of his nature.