Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell are confused about being benched
The Los Angeles Lakers‘ Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell are confused as to why they were benched.
Everyone is absolutely baffled by the coaching decisions of Byron Scott right now. That seems to be a growing trend, as the Lakers to continue to suffer on the court this season. The one bright spot in 2015, is the development of young players such as D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle.
The two were finally starting to get a real hold of things with their playing time, but Byron Scott decided to bench both players instead of starting them, for their game against the Toronto Raptors. Starting instead, will be Kobe Bryant, who has the second-worst PER on the team this season.
Neither Randle or Russell could understand why they were being benched.
Julius Randle says this is the first time he’s ever been benched in a non-preseason game dating back to his childhood: “It is what it is."
— Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) December 7, 2015
Russell: "Everybody has a story at the end of the day as far as what they’ve been through...Hopefully I can look back at this and laugh."
— Baxter Holmes (@Baxter) December 7, 2015
D'Angelo: "I was starting to figure it out and then this happened....I've never been in the (back-up) position."
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) December 7, 2015
Julius on demotion: "You're never going to be thrilled about it as a competitor....I don't know, man. It's not my decision."
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) December 7, 2015
Those certainly don’t sound like ringing endorsements of Scott’s decision to bench both players. Nobody wants to be benched in any sport, but it doesn’t make sense for the Lakers, because they were both starting to excel on the court. Randle even led the team in rebounding.
Byron Scott has made a lot of unusual decisions in his time as the Lakers coach, and they haven’t been any better for it. This decision might be the one that gets the ball rolling on his exit as head coach.
It’s understandable wanting to start Kobe Bryant in his final farewell season, but it doesn’t make sense to do it at the expense of your future talent’s confidence.