The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 132-111 on Thursday night.
Despite being without their two best players in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Clippers dominated their in-city rivals for the entirety of the second half.
For obvious reasons, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue was in good spirits for most of the night. The same could not be said for Lakers star LeBron James, though.
Nothing exemplified this more than a particularly awkward exchange between them that occurred at the end of the second quarter.
“LeBron James was looking for a lane Thursday night when the coach he won a championship with blocked his path,” reported Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times.
“The Lakers’ star was walking back to his huddle and into a timeout with his team trailing by nine only a minute into the second quarter when Lue briefly stepped in front and got the superstar’s ear. Lue chuckled later while claiming he couldn’t remember what he shared.
“But whatever it was, Lue left the exchange laughing behind his black mask. And James? ‘He wasn’t laughing,’ Lue said.”
That checks out. Lue has never been shy about putting various Lakers players in their place. James is no exception.
The Lakers are down bad right now. The team cannot stop losing. Infighting has erupted between the front office and star players. Guys are unhappy. It’s a mess.
The videos speak for themselves. https://t.co/EURaUTLn3r
— Game 7 (@game7__) March 4, 2022
To add insult to injury, team owner Jeanie Buss’ extremely racy messages just went viral online – sparking a variety of reactions across the board.
Just about everything that could go wrong for the Lakers, has. And given that they refused to pay Lue his asking price when they could have had the opportunity to hire him, it’s unsurprising that he would take a little extra solace in their woes right about now.
Related: Malik Willis’ Wonderlic Score Goes Viral, Will Impact NFL Draft Status
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
