Russell Westbrook came into the post-game presser still smarting from his bad play. His irritation clearly showed in how he handled the interview and the answers he gave.
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The Houston Rockets were dumped out of the playoffs in unceremonious fashion today. Trailing right from the get go, they lost the game right in the first quarter, scoring only 20 points to the Lakers’ 35.
They reduced the deficit for a bit in the second quarter, but it became larger than ever in the 3rd period. The game ended in a beatdown.
Westbrook explains why he thinks William Rondo’s expulsion from the arena was justified
Westbrook and William Rondo exchanged some words midway through the 4th quarter of the Lakers’ blowout win. As LeBron James was taking free throws to take the Lakers lead to 106-82, William began waving goodbye to Russ.
The Brody took exception to this, and he was seen asking the Rondo brother ‘who you talking to?’. More words were exchanged before arena security stepped in and escorted William off the premises.
Russell Westbrook gets into it with Rajon Rondo’s brother after he was waving goodbye to him. Rondo’s brother was ejected. Whoa. pic.twitter.com/e1p2oJwUKq
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) September 13, 2020
In this post-game interview, Russ emphasised on how the fans are there to just watch the game and shouldn’t in indulge in any sort of conversation with the players.
He called out both Rajon and William Rondo for their on-court and sideline behaviour respectively.
“People at the game are supposed to shut their mouth and watch the game. That’s the rules. (Rajon) Rondo was talking s***. So, he decided to hop in, too,” Rockets guard Russell Westbrook told the media on the ejection of William Rondo for trash-talking him.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) September 13, 2020
Russ comes off as incredibly salty with these comments. Supporters of the winning team have always talked trash, and even Westbrook was jawing at the Lakers’ families in Game 1 when the Rockets led.
Rajon Rondo defends his brother
In his post-game interview, Rajon Rondo defended his brother to the hilt, confirming that he just gave Westbrook the ‘Damian Lillard wave’. He also conceded that William called him ‘trash’ and nothing else.
Lakers guard Rajon Rondo says his brother, William, called Russell Westbrook “trash” and nothing more and gave him the “Damian Lillard” wave when the Rockets star asked what he said. Rondo said his bother didn’t say anything more and he is hopeful there will be no discipline.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) September 13, 2020
Rajon Rondo added to @TheUndefeated that while he is bias with his brother in question, he asks that NBA security talk to the fans sitting nearby about what happened and that the only reason why his brother was heard was because it’s a quieter bubble environment.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) September 13, 2020
The Lakers star has asked the NBA to look into the incident, investigate it thoroughly and then come to a conclusion.
