Their odd couple could become a hit
They’re an unlikely duo, Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell.
Clarkson is reserved, almost stoic. No “ice in his veins” celebrations.
Russell is a jokester off the court and demonstrative on it, displaying off- the-cuff delight when he or a teammate makes a big play.
Neither one is a true point guard, but they’ve had their moments together in the same backcourt. Can their opposite personalities coexist?
Byron Scott thinks so. The Lakers coach used a comparison with Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
“Steph and Klay don’t strike me as two guys that are exactly the same. They’re pretty different as well,” Scott said recently. “One’s single and out there and one’s married and he’s a family man. I think sometimes those opposites attract and I think it can work with these two guys that we have as well.”
Scott was the straight man to Magic Johnson’s humor- filled persona when they were Lakers teammates in the championships- filled 1980s.
Johnson became the face of the franchise, willingly and eagerly. Scott was more reserved, less trusting by his own admission.
Johnson “was so much more bigger than life. He had the type of style and personality where it was easy for him to go out and make friends and have conversations,” Scott said. “I wasn’t that type. I was very standoffish and not very trusting. Still not very trusting of lots of people. I always have my guard up where he seemed to have his down back in the day. We were a lot different.”
Clarkson and Russell are good friends. No rivalry at all among them. Scott and Johnson were obviously fine with each other too.
“Being around him for some many years, he opened me up,” Scott said of Johnson. “These two will open each other up to their worlds and how they are. I think that’ll be something that kind of binds them together for life, just like it has me and Earv.”
A Clarkson vote
Scott is among those in the Lakers organization wanting to keep Clarkson, a restricted free agent in a few months. He’s been the steadiest player in a wildly unsteady season.
“I think it’s very important,” Scott said before mentioning Lakers executives Mitch Kupchak and Glenn Carraro. “I’m not speaking for Mitch and Glenn, but I think they like him a lot. I love him.
“He’s going to continue to be a worker because that’s just his M. O., and the kid wants to be a great basketball player so he’ll do whatever you ask him to do. He’s very coachable.
“He’s the type of guy that you want in your organization so I would think when this is all said and done, he is a priority.”
Despite a recent shooting slump, Clarkson was averaging 15.6 points, second on the Lakers, and 2.6 assists before Friday’s game against Phoenix.
He made only 13 of 44 shots ( 29.5%) over the previous three games.
Clarkson, 23, can sign an offer sheet with another team for up to four years and $ 57.8 million, though the Lakers can retain him by matching it.