The Los Angeles Lakers are not in a particularly good place right now. The team traveled to Denver to take on the Nuggets on Saturday night and found itself on the receiving end of a beatdown, as Denver came out on top, 133-96. The loss knocked Los Angeles to 21-22 on the season, and while they are still in seventh place in the Western Conference, they’re now two games back of the six seed.
The Lakers have struggled with consistency this season for a number of reasons, but in Magic Johnson‘s eyes, something else was amiss against Denver. Johnson posted a tweet after the game excoriating the Lakers for a lack of effort and saying that Jeanie Buss deserves better than what the team is doing on the floor.
After being blown out by the Nuggets 133-96, we as @Lakers fans can accept being outplayed but we deserve more than a lack of effort and no sense of urgency. Owner @JeanieBuss, you deserve better.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 16, 2022
It’s a pretty damning statement from Johnson, a Laker legend who is as plugged into the team as anyone, even if he famously left his job in their front office during a game. But despite this, Russell Westbrook was asked about the tweet after the game and made clear that he believes Johnson, while entitled to his opinion, doesn’t know what goes on during the team’s day-to-day.
Russell Westbrook says he has no reaction to Magic Johnson's tweet criticizes the Lakers' effort. Said Magic is "entitled to his opinion" and that he's not around the team on a daily basis to see what's really going on.
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) January 16, 2022
Asked about Magic Johnson's tweet, Russell Westbrook says he does not have a reaction.
"Magic's entitled to his opinion. He's not here every day. He's not around us every day… I have no response to that."
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) January 16, 2022
Westbrook did, however, concede that the Lakers need to play harder sometimes.
Russell Westbrook: "Sometimes we got to make a decision to play hard."
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) January 16, 2022
The team will get its next chance to find that extra gear on Monday when they host the Utah Jazz.