Though the Los Angeles Lakers organization celebrated LeBron James becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, not everyone on the roster seemed happy.
Guard Russell Westbrook and Lakers head coach Darvin Ham reportedly had a “brief, heated verbal exchange” during the game.
The exchange reportedly took place at halftime, but the two managed to reconcile prior to the start of the second half.
Voices were raised in locker room, but discussion turned back to trying to win game vs. Thunder, sources said. Ham closed game with Westbrook, who had a season-high 14 points in fourth quarter. Ham and Westbrook dapped up prior to leaving arena later in night. https://t.co/8cch24Sgbq
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2023
Despite Westbrook’s strong performance in the final frame, the Lakers couldn’t manage to get a win. The loss dropped them to 25-30 on the season.
Interestingly, Westbrook was seemingly not the only Lakers star that was unhappy during Tuesday’s game. Footage of star big man Anthony Davis looking quite upset during the game has also made the rounds across social media.
Davis was seen not showing much enthusiasm as James broke the league’s all-time scoring record.
ANTHONY DAVIS💀!!#LakeShow pic.twitter.com/NlNYSi9CkF
— iGor (@1zrte) February 8, 2023
Clearly, something is not right for key players on the Lakers roster. The team’s inability to perform at a consistent level this season surely is playing a role.
While the Lakers have managed to remain within striking distance of a spot in the play-in tournament and playoffs for much of the season, even that proximity is starting to slip away. The Lakers are now two games back from the 10th seed and four games back from the sixth seed.
Though there is still time to make up that difference, nothing that has been seen from the roster as currently constructed has indicated that such ground will be made up anytime soon.
Whether Westbrook and Davis were frustrated about something specific or just upset about the Lakers’ struggles to win games is unclear. What is clear is that if the team wants to enjoy any actual success this season, some major changes are going to have to be made.
The Lakers have four more games before the NBA’s All-Star break. It will be interesting to see if Davis and Westbrook continue to show signs of frustration during any of those upcoming contests.
