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Russell Westbrook unloaded on members of the media following the Sacramento Kings’ loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night, marking the team’s 50th defeat of a season that has left them with the NBA’s worst record.
Westbrook had 19 points and 10 assists for the Kings in the 133-123 loss that handed Sacramento its ninth straight loss at home. Heading into his postgame press conference, it was clear that the NBA veteran was expecting to field questions about the team’s abysmal 14-50 record.
But it was Westbrook who asked the majority of questions, turning the presser around on the media whom he accused of stirring “up a bunch of stuff that’s not accurate.”
“Got a lot of answers and y’all always be talking,” Westbrook said after being asked how the team would handle the final 19 games of the season. “You guys have a lot of opinions about how we do what we doing.”
Westbrook went on to call on random members of the media, picking one by asking, “You make a lot of statements, and broad statements that you have no context – so, where do you get your context from? Are you in practice? Are you at our film session? Are you anywhere around the building?”
The reporter responded to Westbrook’s line of questioning, but when he said that he did know Westbrook, the NBA player’s tirade continued.
“No, you don’t know me. You don’t know me, you don’t know me. But you make a lot of comments as though you do know me.”
“You guys are quiet today, but you guys have a lot of comments when the games going on, after the game, what we’re doing, what we should be doing, how we should be doing it – I’m confused,” he continued.
Members of the media pushed back, calling their coverage “fair.” Another reporter, when called on, said it was “the worst season I’ve seen,” but did not blame Westbrook for the Kings’ struggles.
“Your guys’ job is to talk about the game, what’s happening in the game, not stir up a bunch of – I don’t want to cuss here because I don’t want to get fined – but stir up a bunch of stuff that’s not accurate and that’s my problem,” he said, raising issues with the recent coverage of the Kings’ season.
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“As a leader of this team, it’s my job to speak up for the guys in the locker room,” he added. “My ask is that you respect what we do and we respect what you do.”
Westbrook took one more question about the game before the press conference concluded.
With the Kings’ out of the playoff picture, they will return to the court on Sunday when they host the Chicago Bulls.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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