Tag: Nick Van Exel

D’Angelo Russell on breaking Nick Van Exel’s Lakers 3-point record

Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell seems to grasp the gravity of breaking the franchise’s single-season record for made 3-pointers.

On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers scraped past the Philadelphia 76ers in a grind-it-out, low-scoring affair, 101-94. It was an ugly game for just about everyone, but it was a win they absolutely needed to try to finish ninth in the Western Conference and hold home-court advantage in the first play-in tournament contest.

One thing that was pretty about Friday’s game was the history-making moment that came about midway through the first quarter. By hitting his first 3-point attempt of the evening, guard D’Angelo Russell moved past Nick Van Exel for the most made treys in a single season in Lakers history.

Afterward, Russell expressed his gratitude for now being the sole holder of that record (at 0:26).

Despite a prolonged cold snap in December, he is having some kind of a season. He’s averaging 18 points and 6.3 assists a game while shooting a career-high 42.3% from 3-point range; in fact, in his last 30 games, he’s at 21.8 points and 45.1% from downtown.

He has come a long way from the inefficient, supposedly immature player he was during his first two NBA seasons with the Purple and Gold.

D’Angelo Russell on tying Nick Van Exel’s Lakers record for most 3s in a season

Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell put his name in the franchise’s record books on Monday.

During the 1994-95 season, Nick Van Exel emerged as a star for the Los Angeles Lakers and a fan favorite. His playmaking abilities and outside shooting, not to mention his overall offensive skills and chutzpah, helped the Lakers quickly re-emerge as a playoff team just a few years after Magic Johnson was forced into retirement.

That season, Van Exel made 183 3-pointers, which set a franchise record for most made treys in a single season. Of course, it was a different game back then. The pace was much slower, and the 3-point line was moved inward a couple of feet that year.

On Monday, D’Angelo Russell tied Van Exel’s single-season Lakers record for made 3s. He made six in all and scored 27 points, to go along with 10 assists, in L.A.’s 136-105 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.

Afterward, he reflected on what doing so meant to him.

“That’s another beautiful feeling knowing what this organization means to me, obviously it’s adopted me from a very young age being a rookie in the league. To have my name in the record books at multiple different organizations — I give the credit to the work that I put in and what continues to inspire me every time I step on the floor.”

Head coach Darvin Ham said he has given Russell plenty of freedom to freelance, play his natural game and let it fly from downtown.

Via ESPN:

“He has a green room,” Ham said of Russell. “Not a green light. A green room.”

Russell was originally drafted by the Lakers with the No. 2 pick in 2015. At first, it looked like perhaps he wouldn’t pan out. He shot a low percentage in his first two seasons in the Purple and Gold.

After being traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 2017, he returned to L.A. in last February’s Russell Westbrook trade, and he returned a much more refined player, not to mention a more mature man.

It should be noted that in the 1994-95 season, it took Van Exel 80 games to hit 183 3-pointers. Russell has done so this season in 64 games while shooting 42.4% from 3-point range, compared to the 35.8% Van Exel shot during the 1994-95 campaign (with the shortened 3-point line).

Kobe Bryant called his iconic dunk on Ben Wallace before it happened

According to Nick Van Exel, Kobe Bryant told his teammates he would posterize Ben Wallace right before his iconic 1997 dunk on the big man.

Throughout his storied 20-year NBA career, late Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant had countless highlight plays, which included some iconic poster dunks. They have become fused together over the years to form the legend and icon everyone remembers him as.

One of Bryant’s most iconic and earth-shattering jams came during the 1997-98 exhibition season. The Lakers were playing the Washington Wizards, and Bryant hit his defender with a crossover before posterizing big man Ben Wallace, who, like Bryant, was entering his second season.

It was a vicious and embarrassing play and no one who witnessed it live or has seen the clip of it will ever forget it.

Teammate Nick Van Exel said during an appearance on the “Knuckleheads” podcast that Bryant told the team he was going to do exactly what he did to Wallace before he did it.

“That’s another thing, Kob told us coming out of the timeout. Del [Harris] drew up a play for them to give him an iso at the top of the key, and Kob told us, ‘I’m about to cross this fool up and dunk on him.’ That was his exact words leaving the huddle, ‘I’m about to cross this fool up and dunk on him.'”

Several years later, Wallace would get the last laugh when, as a member of the Detroit Pistons, he would win an NBA championship at Bryant’s expense. But his moment of humiliation at the hands of the Lakers legend will always be frozen in time.

Unsung Lakers heroes of the past: Nick Van Exel

A look back at Nick Van Exel, an integral and popular player for the Lakers in the mid-1990s as they moved on from the Showtime era.

In this ongoing series, we take a trip to yesteryear to highlight Los Angeles Lakers players whom some fans may have forgotten. These players didn’t get the billing that some others enjoyed, but they were instrumental to the Lakers’ success.

Plenty of Lakers fans may remember Nick Van Exel, a plucky guard who played for them in the 1990s. However, to a certain extent, he has fallen through the cracks historically, and he may not get the credit he deserves for helping to revive the franchise during a difficult time.

Van Exel helped get the Lakers back to respectability, and he kept the seat warm until they truly returned to greatness.

The five greatest draft steals in Lakers history

These five players were the greatest draft steals the Lakers ever came away with.

With the 2023 NBA draft now in the rearview mirror, the Los Angeles Lakers are hoping they have come away with a diamond in the rough.

They took Indiana University Jalen Hood-Schifino with the No. 17 pick. Team executive Rob Pelinka described him as a lottery-level talent. They selected forward Maxwell Lewis at No. 40. He fell into their laps after being expected to perhaps go in the first round.

It had fans wondering if Lewis could be the latest draft steal for the Purple and Gold.

The team has certainly had its share of draft steals either in the second round or late in the first round, especially in recent years. These are the five we think top that list.

Robert Horry on Nick Van Exel’s Cancun chant in 1998

Former Lakers forward Robert Horry says Nick Van Exel’s “Cancun” rant in 1998 was more lighthearted than it seemed.

Before the Los Angeles Lakers started their dynasty in the decade of the 2000s, they endured some heart-wrenching playoff losses in the late 1990s.

In 1998, they were swept by the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference finals just when they thought they were becoming the NBA’s next great team. Prior to Game 4, All-Star guard Nick Van Exel chanted the phrase “1, 2, 3 Cancun” during a team practice when they brought their hands in and were expected to give off a pro-Lakers chant.

Many have vilified Van Exel for that ever since. He was quickly jettisoned for marginal players Tony Battie and Tyronn Lue, which was all executive Jerry West could get for him.

But teammate Robert Horry said on an episode of the podcast “All The Smoke” that all Van Exel was trying to do was loosen up his team ahead of a do-or-die game.

“See, people don’t understand where that came from. The 1, 2, 3 Cancun came when we got swept by Utah, and people don’t understand it wasn’t meant to be negative. It was to try to loosen up. Nick was trying to loosen up the team, ’cause we was down 3-0. He said, ‘Man, let’s just go out here and play loose. If we don’t, we going to Cancun. On three, 1, 2, 3 Cancun. And everybody took it as Nick saying, ‘oh (expletive) this, the season’s over, right?’ He was trying to loosen guys up.”

Although Van Exel was an All-Star that season, the Lakers did well without him. When new head coach Phil Jackson arrived for the 1999-2000 season, they ran off three straight NBA championships and established the foundation for a dynasty.

Analyzing the top five 3-point shooters in Los Angeles Lakers history

Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher are two of the best 3-point shooters in Lakers history

The Los Angeles Lakers have some of the top 3-point shooters in NBA history, with three former players and one current ranking among the top 40 all-time for 3-pointers made.

The late Kobe Bryant, Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones are the three former players who rank within that group. LeBron James ranks 14th all-time in 3-pointers (1,860).

As one of the league’s most historic and successful franchises, the Lakers have 10 former or current players who’ve made at least 350 3-pointers with the franchise. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ranks 10th in franchise history with 397.

Here are the top five 3-point shooters in Lakers history. All stats are from Basketball Reference and NBA.com stats.

1. Kobe Bryant 

When Bryant stepped on the floor, he had nearly any shot imaginable in his arsenal. The turnaround fadeaway was his signature, but Bryant is a legend because of how he got a variety of shots off.

If his team was in a pinch, Bryant was trusted to score. Hitting 3-pointers was a part of that. He’s No. 1 in Lakers history for 3-pointers made (1,827). Bryant shot 32.9% from deep for his career, but he ranks 17th in league history for 3-pointers.

Bryant and James are the only former or current Lakers players who rank in the top 20 for all-time 3-pointers.

Bryant shot 21.6% of his field goals from the 3-point line during his career, as he also ranks first in Lakers history for 3-point field goal attempts (5,546).

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