On the second night of a back-to-back and extremely short-handed, the Los Angeles Lakers were unable to come up with a win against the Golden State Warriors. One of the more talked about moments during the contest actually came during a timeout as Isaiah Thomas and Julius Randle got into an argument and had to be separated.
In his brief time with the Lakers, Thomas has been lauded by his teammates and coaches for his leadership. He is someone who has no issues speaking up when he believes players are doing something wrong.
On that same token, Randle is not one to hesitate to speak his mind to anyone either. Following the loss, Randle explained his positive view of the animated discussion and praised Thomas, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“It’s great, honestly. We expect a lot out of each other. It was just communicating. We expect a lot out of each other, we want to win, we expect to win these games and we expect each other to play at a certain level. It’s just us being teammates. There’s nobody I’d rather go to war with than I.T., so it’s nothing personal. We’re just trying to get the best out of each other to try and win the game.”
Similarly, Thomas said the exchange wasn’t anything out of the ordinary and he expects teammates to hold him accountable as well, via SportsNet:
“Just two basketball players competing. That’s all it was. We just happened to be yelling. We want the best for each other. We just want to win. We’re two leaders on the team that were competing. There was a misunderstanding at one point. We talked about it, and we’re good. … I mean, I’m a leader. It’s not me getting after anybody. It’s just me leading. If I see something, I’m going to say something. And that goes vice versa. If they see something, they should say something. That’s how it’s supposed to be on basketball teams. It’s not calling anybody out, not getting on anybody. Just doing what’s best for this team.”
It is certainly a good mindset to have between teammates. Two players aren’t always going to agree on everything and sometimes conversations can get heated. And just minutes after they were separated, Thomas and Randle were seen talking it out and shaking hands on the bench.
Thomas and Randle have developed some good chemistry during their short time as teammates. Both are fierce competitors and as Randle noted, both expect a lot out of each other and when things aren’t going the way they expect it too, it can sometimes get heated.
The important thing is that both players seem to understand there is nothing personal and it was just a momentary dustup. Expectations on this team are rising and players holding each other accountable is ultimately a good thing for the growth of this young team.
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