This is the first clear sign of the Lakers players disagreeing with the head coach, motormouth Byron Scott. Scott has said so much this season, he’s done some moves such as putting D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle on the bench. So far, the Lakers are fine with Scott, the players have stayed the course, keeping faith.
But after the blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Byron Scott made a statement that was very definite in terms of how he feels about the team at the moment.
Kobe’s fearless. These guys looked like they were scared tonight or intimidated by Durant and Westbrook, for whatever reason. So, obviously the game got out of hand real quick and real early, and I thought those guys were just in attack mode from the start of the buzzer until the end. And our guys were on their heals all night long.
Sure. I get that. If I played Westbrook one-on-one I would brick it, I want my ankles thanks.
But I’m not an NBA professional, people like Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell are. That’s probably why they whole heartily disagreed with Scott and his claims.
Said Russell: “I can only speak for myself. I’m definitely not scared”
Said Randle: “We didn’t have energy. We didn’t play with energy. We didn’t play as a team. But we definitely weren’t scared.”
“It’s embarrassing,”Clarkson said. “I don’t know if I was scared. They just outcompeted us.”
I’m not going to mince words when I say this.
Byron needs to stop talking. There’s being critical and then there’s just disrespecting your players. If you’re going to say that, say it in the locker room. Don’t leave it for them to read it on the daily news.
