I am leaving:said by D’Angelo Russell due to……

The Los Angeles Lakers went on a massive run to end of the 2022-23 campaign and earn their place in the postseason, and eventually, the Western Conference Finals. That run was spurred by a slew of trade deadline deals that landed the organization D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura, among others.

The Lakers brought back most of that team but so far haven’t been able to replicate that success with consistency in 2023-24.

Through 58 games, the Lakers are only 31-27, placing them at the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference. They are 2.5 games back of the No. 8-seeded Phoenix Suns to move up one level in the Play-In Tournament. And they are 3.5 games back of the New Orleans Pelicans, who hold the No. 5 seed. With 24 games left, they still have some time to make a run, but they are once again racing against the calendar.

But also like last season, it feels as though L.A. has turned a bit of a corner. They are 12-6 in their last 18 games, and while it hasn’t been spurred by anything specific like last season, it still feels similar to how last season finished out. Russell, for one, sees the similarities.

“I think we never talked about it last year. We just kind of played one game at a time,” Russell said. “We were clicking as well, so for us, it made it easy for any individual to kind of capitalize the game. I just remember Vando winning games at that time. Rui [Hachimura] was winning games. AR, Bron, AD, obviously, myself.