INDIANAPOLIS — Nets point guard Dennis Schroder can’t figure out why D’Angelo Russell — in a playoff hunt with the Lakers almost 3,000 miles away — would be taking verbal shots at him.
The only answer he could come up with: Immaturity.
“I don’t know,” Schroder laughed when asked about Russell’s recent comments. “I showed that to my wife, because I didn’t even see it until one of my coaches in Germany sent it to me. I mean, I don’t understand it. But at the end of the day, it just shows off immaturity. You’re not really mature if you’re just keeping somebody’s name in his mouth and just running it. I don’t understand.”
It was a bit hard to understand — as was the odd timing.
With the Lakers sitting ninth in the Western Conference — firmly in play-in territory — Russell spoke with ESPN and blamed his difficulty in forming a relationship last season with Lakers head coach Darvin Ham on the coach’s pre-existing bond with Schroder from being together in Atlanta from 2013-18.
The implication of course is that Ham played favorites last season when Schroder was in Los Angeles.
“I’m here and he’s not,” Russell said. “I like our chances.”
Ham has acknowledged being a fan of Schroder from their time together with the Hawks, saying, “Yeah, Dennis is someone I love and care about. Dennis is a hell of a player.”
Russell — a former Net — also took what could be viewed as passive aggressive shots at Ham frequently crediting opposing coaching for Lakers losses, like Sacramento coach Mike Brown in Wednesday’s defeat against the Kings.
For his part, Schroder took the high road when asked about Russell.
“I mean, at the end of the day, everybody’s their own player, and everybody’s just got to stand for himself,” Schroder said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t want no … I’m not even gonna react to it. It is what it is, and hopefully he’s gonna keep playing like that because it can backfire. So I mean, I wish the Lakers everything good and for us as well.”
Schroder is averaging 14.5 points, 5.7 assists and shooting a team-high 47.9 percent from behind the arc since being acquired from Toronto for Spencer Dinwiddie.
Dinwiddie was dealt to Toronto as part of the Schroder deal, was waived by the Raptors and has since signed with the Lakers as Russell’s backup.
Over the past 10 games, Schroder is averaging 17.6 points and 6.5 assists and hitting 53.8 percent from deep.