LeBron James Defends Russell Westbrook After Christmas Day Loss

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LeBron James, Russell Westbrook
LeBron James defended Russell Westbrook's performance on Christmas Day.

LeBron James praised Russell Westbrook's performance in the Los Angeles Lakers' 122-115 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Christmas Day. Westbrook finished shooting 4-for-20 on field-goal attempts, with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. He also had five fouls and three turnovers.

James called Westbrook's decision-making, "spectacular" after the game.

"He gave us extra possessions, he gave us a lot of looks around the basket, which I know that he can't stand [failing to convert] as well," James said. "But as far as the effort piece, if a guy plays hard, if a guy leaves it all out on the floor, I got no problem with that. It's a make-or-miss league."

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Westbrook left without talking to reporters.

Lakers acting head coach David Fizdale told the press: "A big part of it is he just wants it so bad. I mean, you can just see it in him, everybody does. He wants it so bad. And I know that's just hard for him when it doesn't work out. And I know he cares like crazy. I just want him to take a lot of that pressure off himself, keep attacking, keep playing the way we know he can."

The Lakers are in the midst of a disappointing season, currently owning a record of 16-18. 

Check out James' post-game comments below.


[Via]


About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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