LeBron James breaking the NBA’s all-time career scoring record on Tuesday was a monumental event. Internally, unfortunately, the evening was tarnished somewhat.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 133-130, as they looked punchless in the fourth quarter after James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar late in the third quarter to claim the record.
Even worse, Russell Westbrook reportedly had a heated exchange with Lakers head coach Darvin Ham in the locker room during halftime.
It appeared the incident was triggered when Westbrook took too much time to leave the court after he was taken out of the contest in the second quarter.
ESPN Sources: Lakers G Russell Westbrook and coach Darvin Ham had a brief, heated verbal exchange in the halftime locker room on Tuesday vs. OKC. Ham expressed frustration with how Westbrook lingered on the playing floor after getting subbed out of game late in second quarter.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2023
— Thegreatestvideosever (@vidvidvideos) February 8, 2023
On Wednesday, it was reported that Los Angeles was in serious talks with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Utah Jazz regarding a trade that would send Westbrook out and bring it guard D’Angelo Russell, as well as possibly big man Jarred Vanderbilt and guard Malik Beasley.
Is it possible that the Westbrook-Ham incident expedited the Lakers’ desire to get rid of Westbrook? They reportedly renewed their efforts to do so lately.
