Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt had a heated confrontation with head coach JJ Redick on Tuesday night. The incident occurred during the second quarter of a 123-87 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena.
Early in the second quarter, Redick called a timeout to remove Vanderbilt from the game. The 27-year-old showed frustration at being taken out so quickly.
Redick called the timeout because he felt Vanderbilt wasn’t performing up to his expectations, which proved crucial for the Lakers. This sparked a verbal exchange, and Austin Reaves, who didn’t play due to injury, and assistant coach Nate McMillan had to break it up.
Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
Vanderbilt recorded three points, two rebounds and a steal in five minutes of play before the sudden benching. He did not return to the court for the duration of the blowout loss.
Redick clarified what happened, telling reporters that the argument resulted from several factors and did not blame Vanderbilt directly. The Lakers head coach made it clear that it was “nothing personal with him."
Vanderbilt, however, made an immediate decision after his in-game incident with Redick. The veteran forward left the arena without speaking to reporters after the game.
Redick shared his side of the story, and fans definitely wanted to hear what Vanderbilt had to say after the game. This was not the case, though, after the 27-year-old decided to skip any postgame interviews.
The Lakers were missing several key rotation players on Tuesday due to injury. Besides Reaves, these included LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes.
In their absence, Redick continues to use a quick hook on any player who fails to meet his strict performance standards. He also removed forward Rui Hachimura, who started Tuesday’s game, just two minutes and 27 seconds into the first quarter.
The Lakers lost at home for the first time since Feb. 24. Before this loss, they had won 10 straight games at Crypto.com Arena. With a 50-29 record, Los Angeles currently sits fourth in the Western Conference.
The team has three regular-season games remaining, starting with a road game against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
