Even when everything is going right for the Los Angeles Lakers, the franchise doubles as a ridiculous soap opera. Evidently, it’s even worse when they’re not winning. As bad as they have been on the court, they have the second worst record in the NBA, they are an even bigger mess off it.
On Monday, the team announced that Nick Young would most likely be benched for the rest of the season. “It has nothing to do with the chemistry,” head coach Byron Scott explained, “it has everything to do with just basketball. Right now, I know what he’s going through, and I know it’s hard on him. But he’s not here with us mentally, and there’s no need for me to put him out there on the floor.”
Scott, of course, is fudging the truth here. Young’s benching has everything to do with team chemistry because there is no way that he can play both him and D’Angelo Russell. After all, Russell posted footage of Young admitting to cheating on his fianee online in what was apparently a prank gone horribly, terribly awry. Because Young’s fiancee happens to be pop singer/almost rapper Iggy Azalea, it quickly became headline news in tabloid-land.
It’s an ugly incident, one which neither party comes off looking good. Russell has become a pariah in the locker room, and has likely damaged his reputation in the league for years to come. In his first home game after the incident went public, Lakers fans booed Russell, who was supposed to represent the future of the franchise in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s retirement.
Still, as unpopular as he may be at the moment, Russell isn’t going anywhere. The second overall pick in last year’s draft, Russell is already the best player on the team – and he’s only 20 years old. If there’s anything the Lakers have learned from the Kobe Bryant experience, it’s that if a star player produces at a high enough level, a team can live with them not necessarily having the best relationship with his team-mates.
Meanwhile, Young is a frustrating, erratic player at his best, and he’s been at his worst for most of the season. Young’s also been a distraction for the team even before this video surfaced. Just last month, he and teammate Jordan Clarkson were accused of sexual harassment. In fact, his time with the team probably would have been over a long time ago if they had found any team willing to trade for him.
So here’s how things will almost certainly turn out: Russell is staying, Young has already played his final game with the Lakers and many of his teammates (and possibly his coach) will be elsewhere starting next season. That’s the part of this that’s easy to predict, it’s harder to picture where this clearly dysfunctional organization will go from there.
Quote of the week
It’s absolutely inexcusable what [Russell] did. I like the fact that he owned it. The good news for him is, he very well one day could be an associate head coach in this league.
– former Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson on the Russell/Young fiasco
Apparently Jackson has not forgiven his former assistant Darren Erman for his obsession with secretly taping nearly everything. It’s a bit petty, but credit him for not going the easy route and making a Bill Belichick joke.
Video of the week
This is unreal. Karl-Anthony Towns, a 7-foot center, embarrasses Russ Westbrook, most athletic PG in the NBA https://t.co/N6RbPZIAzW
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) April 2, 2016
It’s been a better week for the No1 pick in last year’s draft. It’s almost mind boggling to realize that Karl-Anthony Towns is only 20 years old.
How did LeBron carry the Cavaliers this week?
Even when he has a day off, LeBron James is heavily involved with the Cleveland Cavaliers. During last Tuesday’s loss to the Houston Rockets, James acted as an “assistant” coach to Tyronn Lue. Honestly though, this probably wasn’t too much of a change for James, who might as well be a full-time player coach. This was more like a scene in a Shakespeare play where a nobleman switches places with his servant.
Power rankings
1. Golden State Warriors (last week: 1)
On Friday, the Boston Celtics ended the Warriors’ home winning streak. Golden State’s unexpected loss, and basically every Golden State loss is unexpected, has made their quest for 73-9 a lot more interesting.
2. San Antonio Spurs (2)
At this point, the suspense isn’t whether or not the Spurs could possibly catch the Warriors. That seems impossible now. The suspense lies in trying to figure out with nationally televised game Gregg Popovich will ruin by resting all of his starters.
3. Cleveland Cavaliers (3)
Wins over the Nets, Hawks, Hornets and Hawks have given the Cavaliers some separation from the second-place Raptors. This gives Cleveland a good shot at securing the top seed in the Eastern Conference while still being considered an under-performing team. Basketball is weird.
4. Toronto Raptors (6)
Toronto, on the other hand, is probably thrilled to be in control of the second seed. The Raptors have already topped their franchise record for wins in the regular season, DeMarre Carroll might be back soon and, maybe most importantly, they’re not the Maple Leafs.
5. Oklahoma City Thunder (4)
Another high-profile game, another inexplicable fourth-quarter collapse. The Thunder had a 12-point lead over the Houston Rockets on Sunday, but ended up losing 118-110. At some point this stops being a coincidence and starts being a legitimate concern.
6. Los Angeles Clippers (5)
The Clippers did a remarkable job carrying on without Blake Griffin, but now the challenge is reintegrating him in time for the playoffs. And also to get him to stop punching co-workers, that would help too.
7. Atlanta Hawks (7)
How much of a logjam is there in the Eastern Conference? On Monday, the Hawks, Hornets, Celtics and Heat all had exactly 32 losses.
8. Miami Heat (8)
Eventually the joke that veteran players go to Miami to retire will stop working, but not this year. A big reason that the Heat have been surviving without Chris Bosh has been that they’ve gotten meaningful contributions from the likes of Luol Deng, Joe Johnson and Amar’e Stoudemire.
9. Charlotte Hornets (9)
The Hornets are now officially a NBA feelgood story. Goodness knows owner Michael Jordan needs one of those after witnessing his old school suffer through one of the most heartbreaking losses in NCAA history.
10. Boston Celtics (10)
In their first game against the Warriors, who were then unbeaten, the Celtics took them to double overtime. Then, they went to Oracle Arena and became the first team to beat them at home. This might be the best potential NBA finals matchup that has a 0% chance of happening.
11. Portland Trail Blazers (14)
It’s looking more and more like we will have Damian Lillard in the playoffs, which we can all agree is a good thing. Unless your team has to try to stop him in the game’s final seconds.
12. Memphis Grizzlies (12)
Hey, guess what? There’s more bad injury news for the Grizzlies! Should Memphis make the playoffs, they will have to do without Mike Conley.
13. Indiana Pacers (11)
There’s still a chance for a Pacers-Hawks first round playoff series, which would almost assuredly be shown exclusively on NBA TV.
14. Detroit Pistons (13)
The Pistons are currently desperately clinging to the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
15. Dallas Mavericks (17)
Right when it looked like their postseason hopes were about to fade, the Mavericks went on a four game win streak.
16. Utah Jazz (15)
The Jazz are ready to welcome back Alec Burks for the final playoff push. This is somewhat of a smaller news item than Blake Griffin’s comeback, but he still should help them.
17. Houston Rockets (16)
The Rockets are trying to recruit Kevin Durant, which is just a depressing idea all around, like if Styx tried to recruit Jimi Hendrix.
18. Chicago Bulls (19)
You have to give them credit for not lying down, they still have a shot at the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
19. Washington Wizards (18)
Seinfeld was wrong: everybody can beat the Wiz.
20. Orlando Magic (21)
Well, at least Magic fans have Shaquille O’Neal’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame to look forward to, if they can forget the entire final 2/3rds of his career.
21. Denver Nuggets (22)
22. Milwaukee Bucks (20)
23. Sacramento Kings (24)
24. New York Knicks (23)
25. New Orleans Pelicans (25)
26. Minnesota Timberwolves (26)
27. Brooklyn Nets (27)
28. Phoenix Suns (28)
29. Los Angeles Lakers (29)
30. Philadelphia 76ers (30)
