When D’Angelo Russell arrived in Brooklyn, he didn’t know how to be a professional. But he wanted to be taught.
And in the year-and-a-half since the Nets hinged their rebuild on him, they’ve helped him grow into an All-Star.
“The coaches that I’ve had, my teammates that I’ve met throughout this journey, it’s something that you can’t take away,” Russell said. “It almost feels like a degree. You can’t take that away from somebody.”
A master class in hoops professionalism? Call it an MBA: Masters of Basketball Adulthood.
“For myself, I can say that I’ve been through so much. I didn’t know how to be a professional,” Russell admitted. “You’re around it every day, there’s no let-offs. Everybody’s two feet in on just being in it for everybody else instead of yourself.
“I need that, that reassurances, and almost that humbling experience just coming to a new organization where they take pride into that. Just to get this opportunity, I’m lost for words. But I know how far I’ve come. That speaks for the development of the players we have here. I think that’s going to go a long way in the future.”
Being traded by the Lakers and ripped on the way out the door by Magic Johnson was a dose of humble pie. But Russell has proved hungry for coaching.
“I didn’t talk to Luke [Walton] or anybody with the Lakers,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Thad [Matta, Russell’s coach at Ohio State] said, ‘You’ve got to coach him. He wants to be coached.’ He said you’ve got to go at him directly, and he really responds to that.”
The last coach before Atkinson to have Russell for at least two years — Kevin Boyle at Florida’s Montverde Academy — told The Post as much while predicting stardom for his former player.
“He can be the new face of New York basketball. … D’Angelo has the potential to fill that void,” Boyle said last season. “Brooklyn’s a great situation. I’d be stunned if he’s not a five-time All-Star.”
At just 22, one down, four to go.
While Atkinson has a reputation as a point guard whisperer, Russell has also gotten more hands-on molding from ex-NBA guards Jacque Vaughn and Pablo Prigioni. He’s also benefited from vets DeMarre Carroll, Ed Davis and Jared Dudley.
“D’Angelo, how hard he worked this offseason, that guy never left the building. He really bought into what we’re doing,” Atkinson said. “He works especially close with Jacque Vaughn. They’re very close, they work every day. Jacque, having played the position, understands the position, was a darn good player himself in this league. To have someone on your staff like that is huge.
“Jacque was a heck of a defensive player, really good defensive mind. … Overall, when you can talk every day with a guy that’s played the position in the league and your conversations [it helps]. We have Pablo Prigioni, we have guys that played in this league that are working with these guys.”
The Nets also have their performance team working with the players daily, something that helped Russell improve his body. YES commentator Michael Grady shared a memory of eating with Russell at Sweet Chick and getting the chicken and waffles while the young guard confined himself to a salad.
“He’s done a fantastic job taking care of his body. He’s improved athletically, his recovery practices have gotten better. He’s really bought into our performance team. It’s a total success story. It’s a wonderful story,” Atkinson said. “Your teammates, the staff, D’Angelo realizes it’s a team effort. And the veterans, how they supported him … it’s a D’Angelo story, but it’s a great team story.”
One the Nets hope circulates around the NBA, with Carroll, Shabazz Napier, Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie — all over 25 — improving in Brooklyn.
“Hopefully that reverberates throughout the league. I don’t think it’s one person. I don’t think it’s Kenny Atkinson or Jacque Vaughn: It’s a whole organization,” Atkinson said. “The total approach to getting a player better is vital. There’s a lot of cogs in the wheel to help a player improve.”
