There wasn’t much of anything that worked for the Lakers in their 131-116 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.
LeBron James had 27 points but was a team-low -25 in the box score. Anthony Davis went 8-10 from the field but Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped 44 on his head.
Clearly, even the Lakers two best players couldn’t get things going. But I’m not sure anyone had a worse night than Russell Westbrook. He shot 3-11 from the field with 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 turnovers.
His play was poor enough for Frank Vogel to feel like he needed to bench him. Again. In the fourth quarter of a blowout.
This has become a consistent thing for Westbrook and Vogel. Since the Lakers’ loss to the Pacers in January, Vogel has not been afraid to bench Westbrook and go with another closing lineup.
Now, though, Westbrook is tired of it. He was asked what he needed to do to stay on the floor and he was completely honest in saying he’s earned the right to play late.
Russell Westbrook’s answer when asked what benchmarks he has to hit to be in the closing lineup: pic.twitter.com/Nobrx2ov8K
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 9, 2022
“I don’t got that answer for you, brother. I wish I did. I shouldn’t have to hit any benchmark, to be honest. I put in a lot of work and I’ve got a lot of respect in this game…I’ve earned the right to be in closing lineups. Numbers will tell you. I don’t have to explain that. That’s a decision that [Vogel] and the staff think is best for the game and, unfortunately, you’ve got of just got to go with it and figure it out the best way I can.”
WHEW. That dude is not happy. At all. There was also this moment where LeBron and Davis were on the bench and Westbrook was trying to cheer them up.
He explained what he was saying there, too.
Russell Westbrook to LeBron & AD: "I told them I wished I could help them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the game to be able to help them & that’s why I came here. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do that for them but that’s not my call." pic.twitter.com/uC4aao2y9z
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) February 9, 2022
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the game to be able to help them & that’s why I came here. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do that for them but that’s not my call.”
Yeah, this isn’t a happy dude at all. But, to be fair, he wasn’t playing well. And when he’s not playing well it’s hard to keep him in the game.
Fans weren’t upset with the decision. They understood it and thought Russ should, too.