The Los Angeles Lakers came into Friday night’s match-up versus the Portland Trail Blazers looking to snap a four-game losing streak.
Amazingly enough, LA prevailed – emerging from the outing with a 102-93 victory. LeBron James finished with 28 points on the day, while Dennis Schröder chipped in 22 in his return to the lineup.
Although the game was interesting, in the grand scheme of a long season, it doesn’t mean much. Because of that, it’s unsurprising that the main viral takeaway from the evening proved to be a humorous moment that occurred on the Lakers’ bench.
With Blazers big man Enes Kanter at the free throw line to shoot two free throws, LA backup Kostas Antetokounmpo decided to play a little defense.
Antetokounmpo waited as Kanter was about to put up a shot, and then right as the Portland center was going for it, he perfectly timed a towel throw to teammate Jared Dudley.
got em! Lakers bench mob pulls off the towel throw distraction against Kanter@JaredDudley619 pic.twitter.com/NSRDKpA3As
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 27, 2021
Needless to say, Twitter reacted swiftly.
Glad Dudley found a role for himself
— sixers szn (@strobesglow) February 27, 2021
I love these boys
— RepeatSZN (23-11) (@TheGoated1one) February 27, 2021
Bro is going to claim an MVP trophy after this lol.
— Chris Parrish (@ChrisPParrish) February 27, 2021
How much did this move contribute to the Lakers’ eventual victory? Lots, obviously.
In all seriousness, though – this has been a tough couple of weeks for the Lakers. Between Anthony Davis’ injury, the losing streak, James’ dwindling MVP prospects, and seemingly never ending trade rumors, it’s good to see that LA isn’t taking early season turmoil too seriously.
LaMelo has found a nifty trick for picking up Instagram models. https://t.co/4y9uyWxlAe
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 25, 2021
If you can have fun on the bench when things aren’t going well, it’s a testament to your team’s mental fortitude and overall ability to withstand inevitable tough times.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
