Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook and coach Darvin Ham had a brief, heated verbal exchange in the locker room during halftime of Tuesday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, sources told ESPN.
Ham expressed frustration with how Westbrook lingered on the playing floor after getting subbed out of the game late in the second quarter.
Voices were raised in the locker room, but discussion turned back to trying to win the game against the Thunder, sources said.
Ham closed the game with Westbrook, who had 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter. Ham and Westbrook dapped up before leaving the arena later in the night.
Although the Lakers lost 133-130, the game was highlighted by L.A. star LeBron James scoring 38 points and surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the No. 1 spot on the NBA’s career scoring list.