The Lakers broke the Western Conference Finals, Russell's disastrous play in this round completely ignited the flame within the team, and the Los Angeles Times exposed that as many as 6 people in the team jointly resisted the renewal of Russell's contract, and asked for more than 100 million contracts for 4 years to anger James!
Text|Old Kankanqiu
Editor|Old Kankanqiu
Since the Western Conference finals was swept out, the relationship within the Lakers has been unstable, James once said that he wanted to retire, after the thick eyebrows G4 was eliminated, he sat silently in the locker room for more than 40 minutes, and the team's loss was unacceptable for a while, the media reported that Hachimura rejected the Lakers' existing contract extension, Reeves' extension is even more uncertain, Schroder also has plans to find another high salary after playing for the Lakers at the end of two consecutive years, and the Lakers' 15-man roster, Only 4 people, including James and Davis, are within the contract period, and the remaining 11 have expired contracts, such a complicated situation, for the Lakers management, it is really time to test its wisdom.
Now, according to Los Angeles Times reporter Bill Plaskchke, a reliable source revealed that the Lakers' internal issue of Russell's whereabouts has been brought to the table, and it is said that as many as six players, including thick-eyed Hamm, oppose the team's renewal of Russell's contract, the reason is Russell's poor playoff performance, and the media interview with unscrupulous words, Russell publicly stated that he was very satisfied with the playoff performance, has exceeded most active guards, This is very offensive for players and coaches, in the face of absolute strength, players are recognized, but if a player is very good but does not know it, it is not a good signal for the team.
Russell's blind confidence is not only manifested in the press conference, according to Yahoo name Jake Fischer, Russell has asked the team for a contract extension of more than 100 million for 4 years, and salary expert Fischer said that a 2-year $40 million contract is closer to Russell's actual value today, and can also allow the Lakers to maintain flexibility, in this regard, James has previously said that the team needs to supplement quality players, and now it seems that Russell is not on James' list of quality players. In the playoffs this season, Russell played a total of 15 games for the Lakers, averaging only 13.9 points, 3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, shooting as low as 42.4% and 31.4% from three-point range.
The Lakers' palace fight drama has just begun, and the Russell contract renewal problem that has caused headaches for Lakers management is only the beginning, and this season's lineup is now quite balanced overall, and the biggest problem is here in Russell, if Russell is replaced by another sharp shooter who can ignore defense, the battle between the Lakers and the Nuggets may not be over.