Since returning from a calf injury, Nick Young has slowly popped back into form and even surpassed his surprising early season output. The 31-year-old is shooting 56.5 percent from the field over his past three games and an unbelievable 51.7 percent from beyond the three-point line over that stretch.
Young, who is as famous for his personality off the court as he is for his scoring on the court, seemingly did not hang his head after an awful end to the 2015-16 season that even had his future with the team in question. Growing up in Los Angeles and looking up to Kobe Bryant, Young ultimately has assumed the role vacated by Bryant: starting shooting guard for the LA Lakers.
Young, somehow, seemingly saw this coming.
Only three weeks after Mamba Day, when Bryant scored 60 points in an incredible career finale, the Prophet of Swag recorded an, um, interesting interview for a show called "Here's the Rub" with hilarious Russian personality Nikolai Popov.
The episode was released on Wednesday with a giggling Young not at all worried about his future with the Lakers.
Nick Young said there was a line of players asking for autographs last night...Kobe threw Nick's Adidas in the trash. Kobe signed Nike's. — Shahan Ahmed (@shahanLA) April 14, 2016
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"He's a hater," Young joked about Bryant throwing his Adidas in the trash following the legend's 60-point game. Bryant refused to sign Young's shoes after the game, but no. 24 did eventually sign Nike's for Young. In the interview, though, Young appeared confident that Bryant's exit would lead to his arrival.
"Let me shine," Young said in reference to the post-Bryant era. "Kobe took a lot of my shine."
Young has clearly benefited from Bryant moving on, though the former USC Trojan also seemingly benefited from the departure of old school coach Byron Scott and the arrival of the younger Luke Walton. Also, Young's offseason work has translated to both ends of the court, which has been a pleasant surprise for the team.
The oddly entertaining interview is only 10 minutes long and features Young laughing uncontrollably at the Russian host's blunt interview style, which is juxtaposed alongside a strange massage session that involves being hit by brushes at one point and drinking Mexican beer in a hot tub at another.
"So people throwing trees on you is supposed to help your body?" Young asks the Russian host while the masseuses are performing the odd therapeutic practice.
Whatever it was that Young did during the offseason, it seems to be working. We're not sure if getting hit by trees at a Russian spa has Young shooting the best percentage of his career from the field, 46.5 percent, or shooing the best three-point percentage of his career, 41.1 percent, but somehow getting hit across the back with a bundle of shrubs makes about as much sense as the 31-year-old suddenly playing, arguably, the best defense of his career.
To see Young, Popov and the entire bizarre episode, Click Here.
