Nearly a decade later, the D’Angelo Russell recording scandal still has details Nick Young never publicly shared. The former Lakers guard says his anger over the private video becoming public went so far that he tried to confront his teammate in person, but security stopped him before he could get into the arena. Young also claims the situation didn't end there, saying his friends later went after Russell’s brother while the team was playing.
During his October 7 appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay, Young revisited the 2016 controversy that erupted after Russell secretly recorded him discussing other women while Young was engaged to Iggy Azalea. Young said he headed to the arena after the recording surfaced but discovered the Lakers were prepared for his arrival. “I had the whole gang with me,” he recalled, adding that things were “about to go crazy.”
Security ultimately kept the confrontation from happening. Young said security stopped him at the door and told him to take a couple of days away from the team. Yet, he remembered feeling pressure to respond because he believed staying quiet would make him look weak. He acknowledged that Russell was only around 19 at the time, yet maintained that secretly recording a teammate crossed a line he could not ignore.
“I ain’t never been in a situation like that where my teammate just snitched on me,” Young said.
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Nick Young Says His Friends Went After D’Angelo Russell’s Brother
Being kept away from Russell apparently did not satisfy Young’s desire for retaliation. He told Sharpe that while Russell was playing, some of Young’s friends confronted Russell’s brother in the Lakers’ family lounge. Young didn't explain exactly what happened during that encounter, saying only that he felt he needed “some type of get-back.”
Sharpe questioned how an incident involving Russell’s family could have stayed out of the press when the original scandal was already dominating sports coverage. Young’s answer suggested there was plenty happening around the organization that outsiders never heard about. “It’s the Lakers,” he said, before adding, “L.A. is no place for the weak,” as Yahoo Sports reported.
Young also made clear that whatever friendship existed between the two teammates didn't survive the fallout. Asked about their relationship after the recording surfaced, he answered simply, “It was over after that.” Meanwhile, Russell publicly apologized in March 2016 for recording the conversation. He said he regretted jeopardizing his friendship with Young. However, he also explained he had “no clue” how the footage became public and maintained that it was never intended for anyone else to see. The video’s release immediately strained the Lakers locker room, with ESPN reporting at the time that Russell had become isolated from some teammates.
The damage followed Young home, as well. He recalled returning to the house he shared with Azalea and realizing how bad things had become when he discovered his belongings in the swimming pool. Although the couple initially stayed together, Azalea announced in June 2016 that she had ended their engagement because she could no longer trust him. She later said she had also discovered through home security footage that Young brought women into their house while she was away.
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