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 currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.
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