Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook and coach Darvin Ham had a heated verbal exchange in the locker room at halftime of Tuesday’s game against the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder, ESPN reported.
Ham reportedly expressed frustration after Westbrook dawdled on the court following a substitution with 59.1 seconds left in the second half.
It should be noted that Tuesday’s reported exchange came just ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline. Bleacher Report reported last week that the Lakers and Utah Jazz held “exploratory conversations” about a potential trade of Westbrook, a nine-time All-Star.
Tuesday’s reported issue did not appear to carry over into the second half. Westbrook scored 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter for the Lakers in their 133-130 setback to the Thunder.
The game, however, will not be remembered for the reported exchange between Ham and Westbrook.
Lakers star LeBron James surpassed Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the leading scorer in NBA history. He has 38,390.
James eclipsed Abdul-Jabbar’s mark of 38,387 career regular-season points on a fadeaway shot with 10.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
–Field Level Media