The Los Angeles Lakers got yet another national TV spot on Saturday night, as the team is playing host to the Golden State Warriors on ABC. Before the game, ESPN’s NBA Countdown crew was joined by a special guest who knows a thing or two about the Lakers, Magic Johnson.
Unsurprisingly, Johnson had planet to say about the state of the team, which entered the game 27-35 and in ninth place in the Western Conference. After saying the team has “underperformed” and had “a season of, really, a lot of lows more than highs” in which they’ve performed poorly on both ends of the court, Johnson laid out his reasons for optimism for the remainder of the season. But after he did that, he called out one Laker in particular for how they’ve performed this year: Russell Westbrook.
Magic Johnson did not hold back on the state of the Lakers this season:
“[Russell Westbrook] quit battling the press, take ownership and accountability. … I’m tired of excuses, it’s time to take ownership and say ‘I just been playing poorly’.” pic.twitter.com/PHJHpZ7HN7
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 6, 2022
“Now, all is not lost yet,” Johnson said. “We’re in ninth place — no no, not yet. Because I remember in 1991, we played poor up until the last two months of the season, we turned it around, when the Bulls beat us in ’91 in the Finals when nobody thought we could make it. Hopefully Anthony Davis will come back.
“But Russell Westbrook, young man, you gotta know, there was expectations when you called LeBron and Anthony Davis and said you wanted to be a Laker,” he continued. “You saw Kobe Bryant play and win all those championships, and Kobe said you were the guy. So you know you had to come here knowing that it’s about championships when you put the purple and gold on. Quit battling the press, take ownership and accountability and say, ‘Hey, I haven’t played well, but I got a chance to turn it around.’ So, I’m tired of excuses, it’s time to take ownership and say, ‘I’ve just been playing poorly, but hopefully I can turn it around.’”
Johnson went on to say that the Westbrook trade has the potential to be, should the team crash and burn in the play-in tournament, “the worst trade in Laker history.”
Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/magic-johnson-rips-lakers-russell-westbrook-excuses-video/
