The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics 117-102 on Tuesday night.
With the win, LA moved to 13-12 on the year.
The loss dropped Boston to 13-12.
Because both of these storied franchises are mired in mediocrity at this point, the biggest standout moment from the affair wasn’t really game-related. It was Lakers star Russell Westbrook openly and flagrantly mocking Enes Kanter to his face.
You will recall, Kanter has an ongoing beef with LeBron James. The pair had a pregame confrontation the last time these two teams squared off and Kanter has criticized James non-stop for what he perceives to be cowardice regarding speaking out against China.
On Tuesday night, Westbrook decided to get some measure of revenge for his teammate.
Russ right in Enes face clappin cause he know he a coward lmao pic.twitter.com/pBUnM7aBgn
— OG Slim (@Jody_McFly) December 8, 2021
Naturally, folks on social media had some swift reactions:
Changed my entire view on the Lakers based on this clip alone, 2022 champs
— Calvin (@cramin2) December 8, 2021
I’d be yelling “Freedom, freedommmmmmmmmm” if I was Russ
— Ricárdo Rëus (@Leroi14) December 8, 2021
Don’t worry, Enes will tweet something indirectly toward Russel to get his clap back
— Carlos Gomez (@mrchiismoso) December 8, 2021
I love Russ lmao he a menace
— Dean Martin (@deanopapa) December 8, 2021
Only type of friends that you need in this life.
— Black Woj (@BlackWoj) December 8, 2021
At the core of the James-Kanter beef is that the former has often inserted himself into political topics, especially as they pertain to racial discrimination. Kanter finds James’ disinterest in the atrocities being committed in China hypocritical – especially given his financial incentivization to not criticize China.
Brittany Renner reveals what Colin Kaepernick made her do. https://t.co/Ynujeu5kzi
— Game 7 (@game7__) December 4, 2021
Whether that is a fair point or not is something everyone can decide on their own.
One thing is for certain, though: this beef isn’t dying down any time soon.
Related: LeBron’s Blunt Response To Russell Westbrook Chemistry Issues
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.
