Ronald Martinez
Last night was supposed to be a bright spot in a disappointing season for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder saw LeBron James pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for first place on the NBA’s career scoring list.
Unfortunately, despite LeBron scoring 38 points to claim the scoring record, the Lakers weren’t able to secure a win at home against the Thunder.
The loss dropped them to 25-30, a record that has them sitting 2 games out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
To make matters worse, it seems things got a bit tense in the locker room at halftime of the loss.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, head coach Darvin Ham and point guard Russell Westbrook got into a heated exchange because Ham was frustrated with Westbrook for lingering on the court after he was subbed out in the second quarter.
ESPN Sources: Lakers G Russell Westbrook and coach Darvin Ham had a brief, heated verbal exchange in the halftime locker room on Tuesday vs. OKC. Ham expressed frustration with how Westbrook lingered on the playing floor after getting subbed out of game late in second quarter.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2023
The incident clearly didn’t hamper Westbrook’s performance int he game as he finished second on the team in scoring with 27 points and added 8 assists.
The situation in Los Angeles has to be a bit uncomfortable for Westbrook right now. There have been reports about him potentially being traded since last year’s deadline and reports even came out this week about the Lakers discussing trades involving him.
LeBron has even lamented not landing Kyrie Irving earlier this week.
Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Lakers, it doesn’t seem like this season is going to get any less frustrating whether Westbrook remains on the roster or not.
Maybe Westbrook just won’t be a part of that frustration after tomorrow.