With Kobe Bryant done for the season. The Los Angeles Lakers are without a leader.
Boozer? No. Lin? No. Who can be the interim leader of the Lakers? Bring on Nick Young! Ah no. He can’t. Not when Byron Scott is benching him for a whole half!
That’s right. After struggling in the first half against the Houston Rockets. Scott benched Swaggy P for all of the second half. And according to ESPN.com, Nick Young was nowhere to be seen after the loss.
The Lakers’ reserve guard was then a no-show after the Lakers’ 99-87 loss to Houston, leaving without speaking to reporters after going scoreless for the first time for the Lakers in eight minutes of playing time — his fewest as a Laker.
It was an unusual move for the jovial Young in avoiding the media after the game, as “Swaggy P” relishes the chance to provide colorful quotes.
Either way, Scott said he wasn’t happy with Young’s effort.
“It looked to me that he didn’t want to be here,” Scott said.
“At halftime, we showed stuff on the tape where he was guarding [Houston swingman Corey] Brewer in the corner. I asked [Young], ‘What were you thinking on his play?’ The answer he gave me, I couldn’t figure it out. So I just felt with his body language that he didn’t want to play tonight, so I chose not to play him.”
The Lakers are scheduled to practice Monday, when Young will likely be available to address his benching.
I back Byron on this one. What’s the point of playing somebody who can’t be bothered to play? But there are two sides to every story. Guess we have to wait for Young to explain himself. There’s one thing that a player always must have when playing basketball. Commitment. And it looked like Nick Young was fresh out of it.
