The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a close loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night, but most of the talk following the game was on an incident that occurred in the third quarter.
A scuffle broke out between the teams after a hard foul by Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon on Nick Young. Young pushed Brogdon which led to Bucks center Greg Monroe shoving Young. Eventually Brandon Ingram, D’Angelo Russell, and others intervened and ultimately Russell, Young, and Monroe were ejected.
Of course a scuffle like that was all over the news and Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green took issue with Russell’s involvement. According to Chris Haynes of ESPN, Green took issue with Russell shoving Monroe:
Draymond Green on Lakers-Bucks skirmish from last night. He was disappointed with the non-action of a certain Laker guard. pic.twitter.com/VC9wxYIfR8
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 18, 2017
Even though he didn’t mention Russell by name, he apparently spoke on the actions that angered him which made it clear as to who he was referring.
There was certainly a moment where Russell took a step back after pushing Monroe. Of course some would argue that was for the best as Monroe is known as very tough, very strong individual and he has a major size advantage over Russell.
Regardless of how it looks to those on the outside, Russell further escalating the situation could have had a bigger impact on the Lakers and not in a good way as he would be looking at a suspension right now.
The important thing for the Lakers is that everyone had each other’s back in that moment and that can do a lot for team chemistry. Walton was happy with the way his team responded (and not so happy with some other things) and many Lakers fans remember a time just a couple of years ago when Young felt alone during an incident when no one came to his aid. That isn’t a problem anymore.