Russell Westbrook has had a frustrating season, and that frustration may have finally gotten the better of him during his team’s latest loss.
The Los Angeles Lakers guard came under fire on Twitter for a play from Thursday’s defeat to the L.A. Clippers. Westbrook just had his shot blocked by Clippers center Ivica Zubac in the third quarter and was running the floor behind Zubac the other way. Suddenly, Zubac fell to the deck pretty hard. It appeared that Westbrook may have intentionally tripped him from behind.
Take a look at the video.
Normally, you might give Westbrook the benefit of the doubt. But he later pulled the exact same move, a trip, on Clippers guard Reggie Jackson. After Jackson crossed him over in the fourth quarter, Westbrook stuck out his leg in a definite trip and was called for a foul.
The trip on Jackson came when the Clippers had the game in the bag with a 22-point advantage in the fourth quarter. Westbrook’s alleged trip on Zubac occurred when the Clippers were only up by six. But that may have been the point when the Lakers felt the game starting to slip away, as it quickly did.
Prior the Zubac incident, Westbrook had taunted Zubac after scoring on him in the second quarter.
The Lakers have now lost seven straight games to the rival Clippers and are now eight games under .500 on the season. While that would frustrate just about anybody, it is no excuse for committing dirty plays. Westbrook also has a history of such trips dating back several years.
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