Lakers: Julius Randle Finally Standing Up For Himself
By Eric Yee
Lakers forward Julius Randle‘s recent comments show that players are almost as tired of Byron Scott‘s antics as the fans are
After bolstering the lead to 38 points in the second half Sunday night against the Phoenix Suns, Byron Scott opted to play his starting unit for nearly the entire third quarter instead of inserting the likes of Julius Randle and co.
That said, when the lead began to crumble towards the end of the third and bench players were being inserted to stop the bleeding, it was once again the young players who drew Scott’s ire.
It must be said that, while Lou Williams had himself a game, finishing with 30 points on 11-17 shooting, his careless play before the start of the fourth quarter started Phoenix’s mini run.
Entering the final quarter up by 28, Phoenix came out firing and quickly cut the lead to 15 and instead of placing the blame on the entire unit, or even Marcelo Huertas who posted a staggering -14 in just 6 minutes of play, Scott chose Julius Randle as his newest whipping boy.
Julius Randle wasn't exactly a team player last night. "Bottom line is, like I told home before, you've gotta grow up," Byron said.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) January 4, 2016
Byron on Randle: "The main thing I don’t like is when you take him out of games, how he reacts sometimes." Byron called it "immaturity."
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) January 4, 2016
Byron continues to add to tiles to his post-game bingo comment board, seemingly graduating from “man up,” to “grow up.”
Normally, pretty even keel after games, though a shade of disappointment is ever apparent on his face, this time Randle took to the media to voice his opinion about his coach’s latest comments.
Randle's response? "I don’t think there was defense on the court at all in the 4th and [Scott] singled me out. I think it was a team thing."
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) January 4, 2016
Randle admitted he was irritated. Not exactly an apology: "[I played] 15 minutes. I was frustrated I wasn’t on the court. Simple."
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) January 4, 2016
Seeing that most of the Lakers’ media seems to give Byron a pass, Randle’s comments are actually a breath of fresh air.
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Further, his outspoken comments regarding Scott’s coaching of the team could actually be a good thing for the Lakers franchise. Earlier in the season, it was reported that the Lakers were willing to trade any piece not named Julius Randle.
That being said, when a star player and a head coach butt heads, who’s normally the one to go? For your answer, just look at how many coaches Dwight Howard got fired.
Earlier in the year, Byron Scott talked about how he wanted Tarik Black to “get mean,” so could this be what Byron actually wanted, for his players to assert themselves when being bullied?
Could Byron be playing some sick season long game where he purposely coaches horribly with the end game of teaching his players a lesson about standing up for themselves? Byron’s not that clever, so I highly doubt it.
Julius Randle is just the first domino to fall in Byron Scott’s ever crumbling house of cards and the comments will only grow worse as the losses pile up and the minutes continue to decrease.
Next: Byron Scott Continues to Fragment His Team
Do you think the Lakers young stars should start standing up for themselves in the media more often? Do you think that’d help or hurt their cause?