D'Angelo Russell grew up idolizing Manu Ginobili even as his father considered him to be a blend of Jalen Rose and Lamar Odom. Rose and Odom were two left-handers with size who could handle the ball and do a bit of everything.
"He used to tell me that his favorite player was Manu Ginobili," Russell's brother Antonio Jr. said. "He always used to be like, 'Manu Ginobili, Manu Ginobili, Manu Ginobili.'"
"As time went on, I saw him pattern his game [after him] and doing the things that Ginobili does," Antonio Sr. said.
Russell studied film of Ginobili, trying to learn whatever he could.
"Yeah, basically everything Ginobili did," said Jamie Johnson, a childhood friend. "He tried to watch how Ginobili moved off the ball -- just everything, as far as IQ-wise too, because Ginobili, of course, isn't the fastest guy. [D'Angelo] understood that he wasn't fast either, so he tried to find players that were similar to him."
As a rookie, Lakers staffers showed Russell footage of Ginobili, particularly how the Spurs ran plays to get him the ball.