Lakers Star Russell Westbrook Sounds Off on Benching

The Los Angeles Lakers knocked off the New York Knicks in overtime 122-115 but Russell Westbrook did not see the court during the extra period.

Westbrook was benched following a fourth-quarter collapse from the Lakers that nearly cost them the game after a 21-point comeback. The former MVP missed two crucial free throws and was just 1-of-10 from the field in the game.

Westbrook spoke on finding himself on the pine during the most crucial stretch of the game.

“I mean, it happens man. You know? Missed some shots that I normally make. but like I said, I don’t want to keep making it about me,” Westbrook told reporters. “When I play bad you guys ask me a s–t ton of questions, and then when I shoot the ball really well, I don’t really hard too many of those questions. So I don’t want to keep making it about me and what I’m doing. Like, we won the game tonight and that’s the most important part. As far as basketball, there’s going to be off nights.”

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Westbrook Can’t Find Stroke Shooting the Ball

It’s the second time Westbrook has been benched in a game down the stretch this season. During a game against the Jazz in January he also was sat down, but the team lost. After beating the Knicks, Westbrook reiterated his point that if it happens and the Lakers win, he’ll be fine.

“Everybody has off nights. I have some. Other people may have some. That’s part of the game. That’s basketball. But I don’t care about anything as long as we won,” Westbrook said. “Winning is the most important part of this game and that’s the most important thing to me, regardless of if I play well or shoot bad. If I play well and we lose, it doesn’t really matter. We lost the game. But if we win, that’s the most important part to me.”

Westbrook is averaging 18.4 points on 43.7 percent shooting. His poor shooting summoned some boos at Crypto.com Arena, including a stray bank shot in the first half that went wildly off course.

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Lakers Were Timid to Make Move to Bench Westbrook

Westbrook is a bit of a wild card when it comes to his personality and the Lakers were not sure how he’d handle being benched. It left the team timid to make the move for most of the year, but with the season slipping away, Vogel got the green light to bench Westbrook if he saw it fit, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Here’s what the Lakers insider had to say on the situation back in January when Westbrook was benched:

Over the past week and a half, Lakers management has told the coaching staff to coach Westbrook as they see fit, even if that means pulling him from a game, as Vogel did for the final 3 minutes, 52 seconds of the fourth quarter against Indiana, sources told ESPN.

The Lakers now face a major decision on Westbrook with the trade deadline approaching on February 10. The Lakers are currently the No. 9 need in the Western Conference at 26-28.

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