Except that its not gossip. It is (was) the fly in the ointment.
Gossip and jealousy is NOT something a group like Lynch and the LOB needed or would fall to? Why?
At the time we were winning champioships, THEY were credited as the reason we were great, and Russ was seen as the game manager with a flair for the dramatic. They had no reason to be jealous or jilted. They were on the throne. They were the kings. It was the LOB and Lynch, then Russ. And they first took umbrage with a guy who didnt work as hard or carry the 'excellence' monaker. They then became resentful when the 'less than excellence' they saw coming from 3 was allowed to persist and protected from criticism. And then, rather than tear the whole thing down, they just left.
And they arent just coming out and blasting him. Its 8 - 10 years later. Nobody took credit for saying anything until recently. Thats not the sign of a 'bitch move', jealousy or anything of the like. They all could have come out and said that Russ was a douche years ago. they NEVER did. It wasnt until Russ pulled the 'B' move and slandered the coaches, players, and what they built and then lost , in part because of him, that they began to speak their truth.
Thats not slander. Thats calling a spade a spade. And they each STILL do it without blasting him straight on. They say enough that one can easily infer the rest. And they do it as respectfully as one can given how incredibly unfortunate the whole deal was.