Following a loss to the Warriors last Saturday, a pair of Lakers veterans were reportedly involved in a heated altercation with head coach Luke Walton. The veterans in question were Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee.
Reports of the altercation varied from “stopping short of physical” to being “overhyped.” Beasley, in a statement released to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, confirmed that a postgame conversation with Walton occurred but never escalated beyond that.
“This past Saturday after the Warriors game, Coach Walton and our team had a conversation after a tough loss. Despite reports to the contrary, there was nothing physical between Coach Walton, me, or any other teammate,” Beasley said. “I’ve sat back in the past when stories have been twisted and misreported, but I won’t do that this time. I respect Luke and I respect this team. We are trying to win a championship together.”
Beasley, 30, has been among several Lakers mentioned in trade talks amid the organization’s pursuit of Anthony Davis. One year removed from averaging 13.2 PPG for the Knicks, Beasley has been relegated to just 25 games (two starts), averaging 7.2 PPG for Los Angeles.
As for McGee, who reportedly had a heated verbal joust with Walton, he described reports as “fake news” in a statement to Yahoo Sports. McGee, 31, has averaged 10.8 PPG for the Lakers as the team’s primary center.
The Lakers entered play on Tuesday with a 27-26 record, 1.5 games back of the Clippers for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Just Lebrons lackeys trying to get Walton fired
Bingo
Heeee’s gooooone
Walton comes from a good, tough pedigree…none of these clowns will ruffle his feathers
Bill, is that you?
LeBron has won his last Championship IMO. Davis is great but you need a third wheel. Leonard is not going to the Lakers. No way he leaves Toronto even though it is cold.
Wrong
Third wheels are inefficient. Too many cooks
I think the young guys are teaching LeBron a lesson tonight. Their telling him if you want to get rid of all the young guys and the coach like you have in the past, the teams all yours. The Pacers have the Lakers down by 36 with 7 minutes to go without Oladipo. Clearly all the distractions are bothering them.
Report says Pacer fans are yelling “LeBron’s going to trade you” at Brandon Ingram tonight.
They talk about rift between young and old guys in Boston. The Pacers beat the Lakers 136-94. Ingram and Kuzma had 12 each, and Zubac had 8. The Pacers kids Edmond Sumner and Aaron Holiday had season highs of 17 each. For Jayson Tatum doubters, Kyrie sat tonight and Tatum had 25 to lead the Celtics to their 7th straight victory over Cleveland. Think it’s time for a team meeting in L.A. It’s Magics mess, he can clean it up.
Why single out Ingram? They can chant it at the whole team lol
They were chanting “Not worth trading” at Javelle McGee.
LOL
LeBron isn’t deciding who gets traded. That disrespectful to magic, Ron and the whole front office.
C’mon man…we KNOW LeBrons calling the shots. Magic is just making the calls
I’m sure any team that AD said was his preferred destination outside of the sixers would offer up the kitchen sink to secure the trade.
“Every young player that has been drafted in the last 5 years was offered.” And LeBron’s camp made it clear they didn’t want Walton. I wonder if the young guys were telling LeBron “If you don’t want t6 play with us, we don’t want to play with you either.” The chanting had to bother Ingram. The 42 point loss is the worst of LeBron’s career. He deserves it. If the trade isn’t made, LeBron needs to do some apologizing like Kyrie.
Lol sheesh this is what happens when LeBron joins a team. He brought these trash players in and now they’re all on edge knowing they could be traded. Not to mention LeBron wants Walton our. Everyone is on edge in Laker land
Lakers made a big mistake letting an aging LeDIVA take over. His best years are behind him, all you get now is the drama with no rings.