With his feat of breaking Nick Van Exel’s team record for the most 3-pointers made in a season, D’Angelo Russell has cemented his name in Los Angeles Lakers history.

Russell has had a career year to remember, especially in the past two months. In Monday night’s victory over the Atlanta Hawks, he tallied Van Exel’s record of 183 made threes in the regular season by making six threes. Next on the list was Van Exel with 177 in 1996–97, followed by Kobe Bryant with 18 made 3s in 2005–06.

Thus, Russell needed just one three-pointer to break the tie and become the first-ever Lakers player going into Friday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. About halfway through the first quarter, he was able to make one from the left wing:

Russell, who was selected by the Lakers in the second round of the 2015 lottery out of Ohio State, is having a fantastic moment. Russell returned to Los Angeles around the trade deadline last season after spending some time elsewhere in the league, and he has made the most of his second tenure there.

Russell gave a speech on Monday after breaking Van Exel’s record.

That is very awesome. Really, I just wanted to know so I could get credit for it,” Russell remarked. It’s simply extremely awesome. I stated that I don’t want to overdo, understate, or underdo anything. To simply be a part of anything like that excites me much. I believe I also done something similar in Brooklyn. It would be great to receive recognition for your efforts and for your game, which you strive to improve every night.

Russell has more than 12 games left to fulfill his recent declaration that he wants to smash the record in addition to breaking it.

D’Angelo Russell explains catch-and-shoot improvements

This season, Russell has been particularly effective from a distance thanks in part to his increased catch-and-shoot percentage; he discussed how he has achieved this.”I was the opposite at Ohio State,” Russell remarked. I was unable to obtain many catch-and-shoot opportunities. I spent a lot of time holding the ball. I accept that I was exchanged. You are put in situations and given opportunities when you are traded. I recall having a lot of star power surrounding me in Minnesota when I was among guys like Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Anthony Edwards. I therefore knew that I wouldn’t be holding the ball when I played with those men.I had to improve my catch-and-shoot portion of the game, so I worked on it throughout practices. I could shoot off the dribble and was prepared to catch and shoot when I arrived.