Report: McCollum cut off Ezeli speech to team during losing skid

December was anything but kind to the Portland Trail Blazers, with the team dropping 11 of its last 13 games to finish with a 4-11 record.

Following a 115-107 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 7, center Festus Ezeli - who has yet to play a minute in Rip City after signing a two-year, $15-million deal with the organization in the summer - delivered a speech to his teammates concerning their lack of urgency, sources told ESPN's Chris Haynes.

The next night, after a narrow 88-86 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Ezeli reportedly once again started to deliver a speech, but guard C.J. McCollum. cut him off.

The 25-year-old interrupted Ezeli midsentence and told him that was enough, according to Haynes' sources. With the Blazers leaving it all out on the floor despite continuing to rack up loss after loss, being called out by a player who wasn't even competing apparently didn't go over well with Ezeli's teammates.

Ezeli underwent a bone marrow aspirate injection in his left knee back in August, and was originally expected to return six weeks later. Unfortunately, a setback in his recovery due to swelling in the area delayed that return, and it's now believed that he'll elect to undergo season-ending surgery.

After winning 44 games and advancing to the second round of the playoffs a season ago, Portland currently finds itself on the outside looking in at 15-21, with a game separating the Blazers from the eighth-seeded Sacramento Kings.