Anirban Biswas on February 12, 2022
LA Lakers’ coach Frank Vogel has been putting Russell Westbrook in a weird position lately. Westbrook has finally blown off some steam after consistently being sidelined in multiple games.
Russell Westbrook has been a victim of untimely injuries in the recent past which led to him being sidelined. After featuring for 26 minutes at the LA Lakers game against the Milwaukee Bucks he was diagnosed with back pain. He also sat out the Lakers’ last outing against the Portland Trail Blazers.
While talking about his injury, Russell made some controversial comments on the team and coach. Westbrook said that the discomfort was caused by how Vogel managed his substitution patterns in the loss to the Bucks. The NBA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles was benched by his head coach down the stretch.
“It comes and goes. I’m not accustomed to sitting down for long stretches and getting up and then like moving quickly. It kind of stiffens up a little bit.”
This, however, was not the only time he was benched in a game. Westbrook was also benched in the overtime period of the Lakers’ February 5 win over the New York Knicks. As per the stats, he leads the league in turnovers and is shooting 29.8% from beyond the arc and 66.5% from the free-throw line.
Westbrook has career averages of 22.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 8.5 assists. He’s a nine-time All-Star and was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. The point guard believes he’s accomplished enough in the NBA for Vogel to play him in crunch time.
Westbrook and Vogel’s relationship will be one to monitor for the rest of the season. Vogel has been very vocal about Russell’s time on and off the court, and all eyes will be on them for any chances of fallout.
What are your thoughts on the story? Let us know in the comments.
February 12, 2022 7:54 am
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