LA Lakers News Roundup: 9-time All-Star upset with Kendrick Perkins, Joe Vardon calls LeBron James ‘elitist’ and more | 7th May 2022

The LA Lakers' Russell Westbrook isn't out of the limelight even in the offseason. Kendrick Perkins has admitted to getting the cold shoulder from his former teammate after suggesting that the Lakers trade him.

LeBron James’ “dweeb” comments to voters giving Ja Morant the Most Improved Player award get some resistance. Joe Vardon of The Athletic calls the LA Lakers superstar an elitist.

Rob Pelinka’s long-awaited search for the LA Lakers’ new head coach is underway. L.A.’s front office recently interviewed a former head coach who made his team a perennial playoff contender.

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Kendrick Perkins and Russell Westbrook are not on speaking terms

Russell Westbrook’s poor performance this season has been a hot topic for many of the game’s most well-known analysts. Kendrick Perkins, Westbrook’s teammate with the OKC Thunder, dared to propose on "First Take" that the Lakers should trade the 9x All-Star.

Appearing on the "Marchand and Ourand Sports Media" podcast, Perkins revealed that the former MVP refused to talk to him. Perkins simply called Westbrook’s situation as it is, but was not taken kindly by the LA Lakers superstar.

Here’s what Perkins said regarding the rift:

“I’m actually working on getting my relationship back with one of my brothers, who was very, very upset in Russell Westbrook. I’ve defended Russell Westbrook for years, and this year, he struggled.”

Nina, Russell Westbrook’s wife, is siding with her husband and is also giving Kendrick Perkins the cold shoulder. Perkins was just doing his job. Westbrook failed the LA Lakers and dared to be offended by the analyst who called it as it is.

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LeBron James’ criticism of award voters gets backlash

LeBron James called NBA award voters "dweeb" following Ja Morant's MVP-caliber play against the Golden State Warriors. [Photo: Silver Screen and Roll]

LeBron James’ tweet after Ja Morant’s dazzling performance in Game 2 against the Golden State Warriors received pushback from some fans. Joe Vardon of The Athletic spoke on behalf of those who didn’t appreciate the Lakers superstar’s “dweeb” comments.

Here’s what the sports journalist had to say about James’ insinuation that the award voters had no idea what they were doing:

“LeBron James is such an elitist.”

Vardon likened LeBron James’ comment to his criticism of the play-in tournament when James asked the creator of the said feature to be fired. His comments didn’t age well as the Lakers found themselves in the tournament last season. Vardon stated:

"I don’t know how this can be interpreted other than the NBA’s Most Improved Player award is for players who stunk until, all of a sudden, they didn’t. Which of course is absurd....

"I just laughed when I saw LeBron’s tweet. It reminded me of when he ripped the NBA Play-In Tournament, only to wind up in it with the Lakers last season. And of course, the Lakers couldn’t even get that far this year."

The Lakers’ disastrous season hung by a thread at one point because of the very play-in tournament that LeBron James lambasted.

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The LA Lakers' search for Frank Vogel’s replacement is officially underway

Terry Stotts made the Portland Trail Blazers a regular in the postseason throughout his nine-year stay with the franchise. [Photo: Silver Screen and Roll]

The LA Lakers interviewed a name that hadn’t surfaced in any of the reports since April as a potential Frank Vogel replacement. Rob Pelinka and the front office recently spoke to former Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts.

Stotts has been coaching for the last two decades, but spent the last nine in Portland. He led the Blazers to the playoffs in eight of his nine years and appeared in the Western Conference finals in 2019.

The veteran bench tactician was also the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks from 2002-04 and the Milwaukee Bucks from 2005-07.

The former Portland Trail Blazers head coach had several good regular season runs but wasn’t able to get consistent results in the postseason. He only had a record of 22-40 in the playoffs and was fired after the Blazers were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in 2021.

Rob Pelinka’s vow to have a “thorough and methodical” search means that it’ll likely be weeks, if not months, before the Lakers announce their hire.