Waived by Memphis on Friday, D’Angelo Russell never wore the Grizzlies’ jersey in a game. He had arrived at the very start of free agency, in a six-team trade. In that same trade, the Grizzlies picked up Isaiah Stewart, described as an interesting piece, and the whole operation suits young Walter Clayton Jr, who should be kept. Last season Russell played for Dallas, then landed in Washington, where he didn’t feature in a single game. Three franchises, one club he actually played for. Memphis needed to clear contracts to meet the league’s salary rules, and Russell didn’t fit into Tuomas Iisalo’s plans. He is now a free agent, waiting for a team to show interest, and insists that wherever they’d send him, he’d still be “always dangerous”.
Two introductions lined up, zero delivered. Do you know what that does to an announcer? I picture the guy in Washington and the one in Memphis, jingle ready, the two-second pause rehearsed in the car. Here, when someone new arrives, even in November, he gets his blackout, well, his half-dimmed strip lights, and his name: “Mesdames et messieurs, dames en heren… D’Angelo Russell!” An All-Star seven years ago, and nobody did that for him twice in a row. In Dallas, at least, twenty-six games. That’s twenty-six introductions somebody got to do, and I hope they did every one of them in the dark. I recut a jingle last night, just in case he signs somewhere. I filed it under “to be announced”. I say that, I say nothing.
It’s true, we checked: Basket USA.
