Report: Kobe rips Russell, Randle after blowout loss to Blazers
Kobe Bryant was not happy after the Los Angeles Lakers suffered their sixth straight loss on Saturday.
Bryant tore into his teammates after some players were seen smiling following their 121-103 drubbing at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers. The 37-year-old singled out D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle in particular, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
He sidestepped the question when reached for comment. "You know I don’t do the gossip (expletive)," Bryant joked.
There was also a moment in the third quarter where Bryant was visibly frustrated with Randle during a timeout. That came on the heels of Randle missing two straight defensive rebounds which led to a three for the Blazers.
Randle told Medina that Bryant criticized their lack of defensive intensity.
The Lakers' wayward season took a nosedive after the turn of the calendar as they have dropped 10 of their last 11 games. There were a few narrow losses along the way (they lost by three and four to the Sacramento Kings and Oklahoma City Thunder, respectively), but their last six games have all been blowouts.
"We just weren't defending," Randle said was Bryant's critique during a team timeout in the third quarter.
As Bryant mentioned, defense, or specifically a lack thereof, has been the cause of the Lakers' undoing. Portland's starting backcourt of C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard combined for 64 points, and since Jan. 4, the Lakers boast the league's worst defense as they're giving up 112 points per 100 possessions.
Against the Blazers, it was a case of failed execution. Head coach Byron Scott wanted his team to trap Portland's explosive guards, but the Lakers' guards kept getting lost on screens and their bigs failed to step up to provide the double.
Second-year guard Jordan Clarkson agreed with Bryant's diagnosis of the team's problems.
"This whole game we were supposed to be trapping the ball. We didn't trap. We just got to listen. Everyone," Clarkson said. "We have to (talk) first. We haven't done that yet."
Bryant had 10 points with five turnovers in 25 minutes in the loss.