Following the Lakers latest blowout loss to the Mavericks on Wednesday night, frustrations boiled over in Russell Westbrook’s press conference that led to a spirited exchange between the point guard and a reporter in the room.
After dropping in a third straight game and falling out of a spot in the play-in tournament, Westbrook was asked by Los Angeles Times reporter Brad Turner what he believed the Lakers should change before the end of the regular season.
“Nothing, man,” Westbrook responded. “Nothing.”
When asked why that was the case, Westbrook continued by saying that the Lakers “still got games to play,” as do the other Western Conference teams fighting for a spot in the play-in tournament. He then asked Turner what he thought should change for Los Angeles down the stretch to which the reporter responded, “winning.”
Westbrook smirked at the response before getting up from his seat and asking, “That’s fine. You got an answer to winning? You got an answer to winning?” Turner explained that as a reporter, he didn’t have an answer to how the Lakers could turn things around, but that the team’s point guard should because he’s out on the floor playing in the games.
After the exchange continued for a few more moments, Westbrook said he respected Turner’s line of questioning and reached in for a quick half-hug with the reporter. He then pointed to a video camera in the back of the room and said “We cool. Y’all gotta make sure to record that.”
It’s no secret that the Lakers have struggled as of late. Los Angeles is 4–13 since the All-Star break and now finds itself seriously in danger of missing out on the playoffs entirely.
With Wednesday night’s loss, the Lakers dropped to 31–44 and to the No. 11 spot in the Western Conference. Los Angeles has the same record as San Antonio, the current No. 10 seed, but the Spurs have the tiebreaker with seven games remaining.
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