The Los Angeles Lakers’ season has been a disappointment, to say the least. However, this past weekend it seems they’ve reached new lows. Suffering a devastating loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, 123-95, led to a parade of boos through the majority of the night. Lakers star point guard Russell Westbrook, an L.A. native, whom the Lakers spent the majority of their capital getting this offseason spoke very ill of the Lakers, in many fans’ eyes at least. He was recently asked the fanbase of the Lakers has been receptive to him, although, they have lost nine times in their last 12 games.
“Nah,” Westbrook said. “Take it home? For what? S—. Take it home? I got three beautiful kids at my house. Why would I take it home? If they boo, they can take their ass home. I ain’t worried about that. It bothers me none. …
“I can only answer if I take them home: No. But as for our team, I don’t think it’s something we got to deal with. And kind of move forward,” Westbrook continued.
Currently, the Lakers are well below .500 and continue to be going in the wrong direction. The Los Angeles Lakers are hanging on by a thread as the gap closes to two games between them being in the play-in tournament or sitting at home with only 22 games remaining. Unfortunately, for the Lakers, the road only seems to get harder. They will face the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, and the Golden State Warriors during this week.
“We got a tough stretch with Dallas, Clippers again Thursday, then Golden State on Saturday,” LeBron James said. “And we still got 10 road games this month, or March, so it don’t get easier for us.”
What direction should the Los Angeles Lakers go towards?
Many would agree, this Pelicans loss was discouraging with both star players Westbrook and James having seven turnovers apiece. The team overall had 23 for the entirety of the game. According to Dave McMenamin for ESPN, these turnovers led to 25 points for New Orleans.
During the second half, they were outscored 44-25, which ultimately led to the boos.
“We’re not shooting the ball well from the perimeter, and the paint’s clogged, and we’re trying to force inside — with the pass, with the bounce — and it’s leading to a lot of turnovers,” Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said.
The veteran and future Hall of Famer had a much more optimistic approach to the failure. Dwight Howard offered some friendly and encouraging words to his team and Lakers Nation.
“It’s real easy to give up, throw in the towel and say negative things,” Howard said. “So, really at a loss for words. But we got to stay positive. We can’t sulk in defeat, and we can’t quit on each other. I know it’s been a very rough season, but Nah, I think that’d be bad.”
Westbrook puts foot in his mouth: ‘Just play harder than them and see what happens’
Vogel preached about moving forward since he reached the Lakers. Anything basketball-related good or bad always move past it and focus on the upcoming play. However, Westbrook seems to not be taking this advice and dwelling on the disappointing losses. He’s beginning to since a patter and while he may have spoken out of sarcasm this didn’t sit well with the fans. In fact, they let him hear it on his home court throughout the game.
“Teams are coming in, playing harder, and I believe that’s kind of their scouting report: Just play harder than them and see what happens,” Westbrook said. “And it’s working.
