On March 14, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, and in a focus battle that ended before, the Lakers lost 108-112 to the Knicks at home, temporarily ranking eleven in the West with a 33-35 record, and were gradually far from the playoff playoff spot.
Throughout the game, James continued to be absent due to injury, Russell took over the backcourt core banner, efficiently cut 33 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists, Davis had 17 points and 16 rebounds Other players: Beasley scored 10 points, Schroder scored 14 points, Reeves 13 points, Hachimura 12 points. The team regretted losing to a strong opponent and received bad news after the game.
Earlier today, according to Smith, insiders in the league revealed that after a period of evaluation and negotiation, Russell officially rejected the two-year $67.5 million contract extension offered by the Lakers, and it is reported that the former insisted on asking for a five-year, $180 million maximum salary contract, which was decisively rejected by the Lakers management, and negotiations between the two sides have broken down.
Later, reporter Smith added that the reason why the Lakers were determined to provide Russell with a top salary. The main reason is that Pelinka wants to retain more salary space and pursue stronger All-Star players in the offseason, with Celtics core Brown being one of the main goals.
It should be noted that a number of media have previously confirmed that the extension negotiations between Celtic and Brown are also deadlocked, and the latter is likely to test the free market in the offseason, which will attract the pursuit of many teams, and the Lakers are also Brown's favorite team.