Fansided

Should Kobe Bryant pay D’Angelo Russell’s fine for dunk celebration?

By Kyle Franzoni

December 17, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant (24) reacts after scoring a basket against Houston Rockets during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
December 17, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant (24) reacts after scoring a basket against Houston Rockets during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Los Angeles Lakers rookie got a little excited on Thursday night, and now D’Angelo Russell may need Kobe Bryant’s help paying off a fine.

It isn’t often that a rookie gets to spend his first season in the NBA playing alongside one of the all-time greats. It is much more rare when said rookie also gets to watch that legend in the final year of his career.

Such is the case for D’Angelo Russell, who gets to spend his days cutting his teeth alongside Kobe Bryant, who declared earlier this season it would be his last in the NBA. Unfortunately, it has been tough for Bryant this season and there haven’t been a ton of highlights to punctuate his final year in the league.

Until Thursday night.

Once one of the most prolific dunkers in basketball, Bryant had gone the entire season without flushing one. So when he managed to score his first throwdown of the year, Russell and the rest of the Lakers sideline went a little nuts.

While the Vine does show Russell coming in at the end, what it doesn’t show is that he celebrated the fete by running up and down the baseline like a madman. Unfortunately, while it made for an interesting decision, the referee didn’t exactly think it fit into the rule book and gave Russell a technical foul.

Interestingly enough, the rookie soon realized that with technical fouls comes a fine in the NBA, and being a rookie, he wants to try and conserve as much of his initial funds as possible. So how does he do that? By talking the veteran into paying it for him, as noted by ESPN.

"His excessive celebrating earned the rookie a technical foul — “the best tech that D’Angelo will ever get,” Bryant later said.At first, Russell thought, “How much is that? How much am I going to be fined?”Then he ran up to Bryant.“Hey man, you’ve got to pay my tech on that one,” Russell told him.Bryant said he replied, “Meh, you ran the baseline on your own free will.”"

Needless to say, it sounds like Russell is going to have to scrape his own nickels together and settle his debt like a man, without papa Kobe’s help. After all, what good is the rookie/veteran relationship if not to teach some valuable life lessons?!

(h/t SB Nation)

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