The saga between Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott and rookie point guard D’Angelo Russell has been nothing short of fascinating this season. For reasons unknown, Scott seems to despise Russell, and essentially never gives him the benefit of the doubt or has anything positive to say about him.

Russell has been the victim of a number of seemingly inexplicable late-game benchings by Scott, including one that took place in late January against the Dallas Mavericks. After the game, Scott had this to say about his reasoning.

“I saw the last couple minutes that he was in that he was really trying to take over the game, and that’s not him yet,” Scott said, via ESPN’s Baxter Holmes. “I want the ball to move a little bit. I thought it stuck with him. He tried to make the big shots and things like that. I understand that, but to me, that’s not him right now.

“He’s been more aggressive to score. I think sometimes he’s taking what they’re giving him, and I think there’s other times where I think he’s kind of forcing the issue. He has to find a happy medium. He’s learning.”

Considering their rocky relationship, it should come as a surprise to nobody to read Scott’s latest comments about the former Ohio State standout prior to the Lakers’ road showdown with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers this week.

D’Angelo’s playful teenage nature is “at times,” a problem, Byron said. Not as mature as Chris Paul + Kyrie Irving as rookies, Byron added.

— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) February 10, 2016

While Scott’s constant public criticisms of Russell seem excessive, there’s always a chance that they are warranted despite appearing to the contrary. But no one knows for sure other than the flies on the wall in the Staples Center locker room.