On Wednesday night, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel made headlines when he decided to bench point guard Russell Westbrook.
Vogel made the decision after Westbrook struggled on the defensive side of the ball. Late in the game against the Indiana Pacers, Westbrook made an error that saw him riding the pine for the rest of the game.
Of course, that decision sent shockwaves through the basketball world. On Thursday afternoon, ESPN analyst Tony Kornheiser said the Lakers have to trade Westbrook now after “humiliating” him last night.
“You can’t bring Russell Westbrook to your team, and then bench him in crunch time,” he said today. You can’t do that. He’s played in the league for 14 years and he’s going to the Hall of Fame.”
“You can’t bring Russell Westbrook to your team, and then bench him in crunch time. You can’t do that.”
Tony explains what he thinks the Lakers should do with Westbrook going forward this season. pic.twitter.com/EBhG14iuah
— PTI (@PTI) January 20, 2022
Kornheiser expanded on his comments, saying the Lakers knew what they were getting when they traded for him.
“Everybody knows his strengths are his effort and everybody knows he’s not a great shooter,” he said. “He’s a great scorer, he’s not a great shooter. You can’t humiliate him and say that he’s not as valuable because he didn’t play as good defense as Malik Monk. You have to trade him today, Mike. You have to trade him today.”
It doesn’t seem likely that the Lakers will trade Westbrook by the end of the day. However, his future with the team is unclear.
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