NBA: 3 star players seeing a downswing in their public perception

1. D’Angelo Russell

There is no such thing as a good injury, but perhaps D’Angelo Russell of the Minnesota Timberwolves being ruled out for up to six weeks is just what he needs right now to take him out of the firing line. The Timberwolves are a dismal 7-22 and find themselves at the bottom of the Western Conference.

The career of Russell has been a strange one so far, and it was thought that pairing him with friend and fellow All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns would help get the franchise closer to the postseason once more. With the Los Angeles Lakers, he was moved aside quickly in favor of Lonzo Ball.

From there Russell rebuilt himself into an All-Star with the Brooklyn Nets and was part of a group that overachieved in making it to the postseason and were fun to watch. Then game the switch of coasts as he ended up with the Golden State Warriors, where he was always going to be in the shadow of Stephen Curry.

But to be traded to the Timberwolves for, Andrew Wiggins? It felt a little disrespectful for a guy who had shown with the Nets he could be one of the two best players on a playoff-caliber outfit. Only since he’s gotten to Minnesota, it hasn’t looked like that at all. Forget about a change in perception, Russell is just being forgotten about completely.

It can be hard to stick in the consciousness of casual fans when you’re in a small market (ask Nikola Vucevic about that), but when you’re losing as many games as the Timberwolves have, you practically disappear altogether. Before going down Russell was averaging just under 20 points a night while shooting a fraction under 40 percent from deep. Solid numbers.

But as it has not led to winning, these are viewed as empty stats (although there is another guy playing for a so-so team who has seen his perception go the other way). So whereas with Doncic and Young, there is annoyance from some fans because they expect more, in the case of Russell they are quickly not caring at all, and that is even worse.