Nick Young Defends Lakers Teammate D'Angelo Russell After Breakup With Iggy Azalea

Nick Young Lakers — Nick Young was forced to address the controversy with D'Angelo Russell at a news conference at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on March 30, 2016 before the Los Angeles Lakers played the Miami Heat. Getty

Despite their past issues, Nick Young is standing up for his Los Angeles Lakers teammate. The NBA player is asking fans to go easy on D’Angelo Russell, who was at the center of Young’s public breakup with rapper Iggy Azalea.

The NBA season won’t begin for well over a month, but Russell is still getting heckled for recording a video in which Young revealed that he cheated on then-fiancée Azalea. He was taunted while attending a Drake and Future concert last week, as fans yelled “Hide your phone!” when he entered L.A.’s Staples Center.

“He good,” Young told TMZ when informed that Russell was hearing it from fans before the start of the season. “He good.”

It’s been nearly six months since the video went viral, and it appears that Young has gotten over the incident.

“We’re teammates,” Young told the Southern California News Group in August. “It’s been so long, so it’s kind of old.

“We’ll be able to work it out. We’ve already been working it out. It is what it is. I can’t be mad forever.”

Young was not nearly as forgiving when the incident first happened. ESPN reported that Young and other members of the Lakers were “isolating” Russell, refusing to interact with him off the court. When Russell made fun of the situation in a commercial that aired three months later, Young took to Twitter to indicate that he wasn’t amused.

There were even rumors that the Lakers might trade Russell this offseason. L.A. had high hopes for Russell when they drafted him a year ago, taking him with the No.2 overall pick.

Azalea and Young didn’t split immediately after the video surfaced, but the couple didn’t make it through June when Azalea said she was unable to “rebuild trust in him.” A few weeks later, Keonna Green, Young’s ex-girlfriend, confirmed she was 22 weeks pregnant with their second child.

Azalea appears to have moved on to rapper French Montana, though she claims they are just friends. When asked about the rumored item, Young wished the couple the best.