Ham says he cannot afford to waste any time managing players’ feelings

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham says he cannot afford to waste any time managing players’ feelings after benching Russell Westbrook late as they slumped to an 0-3 start on Sunday.

The Lakers surrendered a seven-point lead with 1:56 left, losing 106-104 to the Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena, following up defeats to the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors.

LeBron James had a two-point attempt rim out on the buzzer as they missed four of their final five shots in the last two minutes.

Leading 102-101, Westbrook missed a 15-foot pull-up jumper with 27.3 seconds remaining in the game and 18 seconds left on the shot clock. He was then sent to the bench after Damian Lillard drained a three-point to put the Blazers ahead.

“We don’t have time for feelings or people being in their feelings. Like, we’re trying to turn this thing around,” Ham told reporters. “For one person to be in their feelings about when and where and how they should be in the game, I don’t have any time for that.”

Westbrook finished with 10 points on four-of-15 shooting, adding six rebounds and six assists in 28 minutes, with no turnovers, having given away four in their opening loss to Golden State.

Ham was critical of Westbrook’s shot location rather than his decision to take on his jumper with 27.3 seconds left trying to execute a two-for-one, to ensure two offensive possessions in the final moments.

“I just wish we would’ve attacked the rim directly,” Ham said. “That’s the one shot that teams want you to take and want to give up – long twos, contested twos.

“With his ability to explode and get to the basket still being at a high level, I wish he would’ve did that. Especially with Nurkic standing back there with five fouls… shot selection is something we have to work on.”

James would not be drawn on Westbrook, proactively calling out reporters for their line of questioning on the nine-time All-Star, who has started the season averaging 10.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals per game.

“I feel like this is an interview of trying to set me up to say something,” James said. “I can tell that you guys are in the whole Russell Westbrook category right now. I don’t like to lose. I hate to lose at anything.

“I don’t care what happens throughout the course of my season or throughout the course of my career, I hate to lose. And especially the way we had this game. But give credit to Portland.

“You guys can write about Russ and all the things you want to try to talk about Russ, but I’m not up here to do that. I won’t do it. I’ve said it over and over. That’s not who I am.”

James finished with 31 points on 12-of-22 field shooting, with eight rebounds, eight assists, two steals and two blocks, while Anthony Davis scored 22 points with 10 rebounds, two steals and six blocks.

The Lakers’ woes from beyond the arc plagued them again, shooting six-of-33 from three-point range.