Lakers Big Man Called Out After Benching

Los Angeles Lakers big man DeAndre Jordan ended up on the bench and Dwight Howard stepped in as a replacement for him. There has been a lot of speculation about the Lakers big man and his benching. A lot of critics targeted him following the game.

Jordan got just four minutes and hit a couple of rebounds before being benched. The veteran also talked with Lakers head coach Frank Vogel on the sideline. Why did Vogel bench him?

Howard started the second half of the game and finished the night with 12 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.

Fans liked it.

“Dwight Howard needs to be getting all of DeAndre Jordan’s minutes,” one tweet read.

“1. Why is Deandre Jordan still on an NBA roster. 2. Why is he starting over Dwight Howard only to play 4 minutes,” another added.

Howard didn’t think he’d see any action in the game against the Kings. He played a key role in the win and fans support his role with the team.

“Coach told me I wasn’t really going to play tonight before the game. I was kind of down and expecting not to play,” Howard said in his postgame interview. “But you always have to be ready to play. He called my number and I wanted to make sure if a played tonight I was going to give it 110% effort to help this team win.”

Lakers head coach Vogel reacts to the big man benching

Vogel had a few reasons to make this decision. He seems to be happy with this move.

“Just a coach’s decision. I felt like Dwight was going to give us a lift in this game and I was right,” Vogel said. “He played terrific. He came in and really changed the game with his energy. Him in particular in that third quarter with his pick and roll coverage, he’s more familiar with what we do. He came in and just really set the tone with physicality, with effort, communication, and obviously helped us on the boards.”

Lakers players are trying to get back in shape and we may see more of this gameplan.

“It’s not always going to be DJ. Sometimes it’ll be Dwight,” Vogel said earlier this week. “You could see Dwight in the starting lineup with DJ being the third center or whatnot. We’ll just continue to evaluate that going forward.”