Woj Report: Russell Westbrook Had "Heated Verbal Exchange" With Head Coach In Locker Room

 

Tensions could be rising around the Los Angeles Lakers as we approach the trade deadline on Thursday. Russell Westbrook, whose name has been mentioned in a number of rumors, got into it with head coach Darvin Ham at halftime Tuesday night. 

ESPN Sources: Lakers G Russell Westbrook and coach Darvin Ham had a brief, heated verbal exchange in the halftime locker room on Tuesday vs. OKC. Ham expressed frustration with how Westbrook lingered on the playing floor after getting subbed out of game late in second quarter.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2023

According to NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Westbrook and Ham had a "brief, heated verbal exchange" in the halftime locker room. The coach expressed frustration with how Westbrook "lingered" on the playing floor after getting subbed out of the game late in the second quarter.

Woj says "voices were raised" for a short time, before discussion turned back to the game, which the Lakers wound up losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, on the night that LeBron James became the NBA's all-time scoring king, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Westbrook, incidentally, did score 14 of his 27 points in the 4th quarter, and he and the coach were apparently on good terms by game's end.

But was that Westbrook's final game in a Laker uniform? The latest rumor has him possibly going to Utah. 

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