Russell Westbrook made some waves with his recent comments about not being included in the Los Angeles Lakers’ closing lineups and head coach Frank Vogel fired back when asked about the criticism from his polarizing point guard.
Westbrook was unhappy after he was benched for the fourth quarter against the Bucks, letting his feeling be known in his postgame presser. It was the third instance this season where Westbrook was left on the sideline during crunch time.
“I shouldn’t have to hit any benchmark, to be honest,” Westbrook said. “I’ve put a lot of work and I’ve got a lot of respect in this game. I don’t got to hit a benchmark, or I shouldn’t have to. I’ve earned a right to be in closing lineups.”
Vogel has maintained that his job is simply to put the team in the best position to win, which he feels at times is with Westbrook on the bench.
“The needs of the team always come first,” Vogel told reporters prior to Wednesday’s loss to the Blazers. “We have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get the Lakers a win. Sometimes he’s going to be in there for that, sometimes he’s not.”
Frank Vogel on Russ’ comments about him feeling he deserves to close games:
“The needs of the team always comes first…We have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get the Lakers a win.”
Vogel was not the only person that responded to Westbrook’s scathing comments. His former teammate Kendrick Perkins — now a talking-head on ESPN — also had some words for the Lakers guard.
“I’m extremely bothered by Russ and those comments after the game,” Perkins said on NBA Today. “Accountability is huge and Russell Westbrook has shined away from that word for some reason.”
Westbrook May Have Played Last Game With Lakers
The trade deadline has arrived and there’s a chance Westbrook could be on the move to his fifth team over the last four seasons. The Lakers traded the farm for Westbrook this offseason, sending Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell to the Wizards for the former MVP. However, the Westbrook experiment has been a massive fail in Los Angeles and the team is running out of time to find a solution.
Vogel was asked directly about Westbrook and the possibility that he could be traded and didn’t exactly throw cold water on all of the rumors.
“If there’s a way to improve our team, we’ll improve our team,” Vogel said. “I’ve got nothing else to say about the trade deadline.”
Frank Vogel, asked directly by @billoram if there’s a scenario in which Russell Westbrook isn’t on the team after tomorrow: “If there’s way to improve our team, we’ll improve our team. I’ve got nothing else to say about the trade deadline.”
Westbrook sat out his first game of the season on Wednesday with a back injury. He is averaging 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.6 assists this season.
Westbrook Piled on Vogel After Latest Benching
The Lakers dealt with some injuries to key players to start the year — most notably LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, even with those issues, nobody expected the Lakers to be sitting at 26-30 just ahead of the All-Star break.
Something Westbrook expressed frustration about in his now-viral postgame comments was the lack of consistency with the Lakers lineups and rotation.
“You never know when you’re coming in, you never know when you’re coming out. You never know when you’re playing, you never know… a bunch of things,” Westbrook told reporters. “And I’m speaking for me personally, so it’s a difficult process to be able to figure out and create some rhythm and some consistency where we can actually see what we’re able to do as a team, but those decisions are made by him and his coaching staff, and you’ve got to live with it and move on.”
The Lakers situation with Westbrook has hit critical mass just ahead of the trade deadline, which should make for some very interesting drama.
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Lakers Coach Frank Vogel Fires Back at Russell Westbrook After Criticism