Russell Westbrook has taken issue with the late dunk that led to his ejection.
LA Lakers player Russell Westbrook has taken issue with the late dunk that led to his ejection in the loss to the Thunder.
Westbrook stood his ground on his decision stating that they are certain things you don’t do in sports.
“How I play the game, I’m more old-school,” Westbrook said, explaining why he took issue with the Thunder’s Darius Bazley for scoring on a breakaway dunk with 1.5 seconds remaining, rather than dribbling out the clock.
“And when s— like that happens, I don’t let it slide. … In the game of basketball, there’s certain things you just don’t do. Like in baseball, you don’t flip the bat. There’s certain things you don’t do in sports when the game’s already over. And I didn’t like it. Simple as that.”
Westbrook pointed at Bazley and repeatedly yelled, “Don’t do that,” before teammates came between the two and Westbrook received a technical foul — his second of the night, resulting in the ejection.
It was the final dismal scene in a disaster of a night for the Lakers as they failed to protect a 26-point first-half lead and went 0-for-3 on potential game-tying 3s in the final 30 seconds, losing to a Thunder team that came into the night 0-4.
“A disappointing loss, but a lesson learned,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “An NBA season is a long season and a lesson for our group that you can’t ever take your foot off the gas against anyone.”
