Festus Ezeli tried lecturing the Blazers about urgency, and C.J. McCollum urgently told him to zip it
The Portland Trail Blazers have been underwhelming this season, at least by lofty standards set after their run to the Western Conference semifinals in 2015-16, and $85 million free-agent acquisitions Evan Turner and Festus Ezeli have shouldered much of the blame, deserved or not. (Mostly deserved.)
So, when the injured Ezeli, who has yet to play for the Blazers after signing a two-year, $15 million deal this past offseason — and may never suit up for Portland — tried twice to address the team’s locker room during a four-game losing streak last month, teammate C.J. McCollum wasn’t having it.
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The goods, from a feature on Portland’s struggle, by ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes:
After suffering a challenging, 115-107 loss to Milwaukee, Ezeli, in street clothes, addressed the team in the locker room with a stern speech centered on playing with urgency, sources told ESPN. Then two games later, after a crushing defeat in Memphis, Ezeli once again started giving a team speech, but he was cut short.
McCollum interrupted Ezeli in mid-sentence and told him that was enough, sources told ESPN. Portland was in the midst of an emotionally draining December, losing 11 of 13 games. Players were desperately pouring out every ounce of effort trying to change the trajectory of the season, and being lectured by someone who wasn’t even playing wasn’t received favorably.
It’s not all that difficult to understand why McCollum, the NBA’s reigning Most Improved Player and Portland’s starting shooting guard for all 37 games of their disappointing 15-22 start, would grow frustrated with a newcomer lamenting the team’s effort, especially one whose knee problems have prevented him from contributing at all this season. And particularly one who played a role in eliminating the Blazers from the playoffs as a member of the Golden State Warriors last season.
Credit Ezeli for trying to assume a leadership role, I guess, but harping on urgency on both nights of a road back-to-back isn’t a great look. Once is probably one too many times for a guy who’s cashing a $7.4 million check while watching everybody else do the work, but twice — with the second time coming moments after the Blazers blew an 11-point lead in the final 5:28 and lost at the last second — is worthy of interrupting mid-sentence. Imagine you’re a roofer, and the guy in a lawn chair with his feet kicked up on a cooler after he tweaked his back starts barking at you on the roof about hurrying up on those shingles as the heat beats down, and you get an idea of what McCollum was thinking.
And McCollum may have had some added motivation to tell Ezeli to zip it. According to ESPN.com, some members of the Blazers are weary of Ezeli’s inability to play through injury, considering he impressed at practice during training camp before shutting himself down with pain in the same knee that required arthroscopic surgery in February 2016 and more injections six months later. Those two treatments sandwiched his signing in July. Considering only $1 million of his contract’s second year is guaranteed, and Haynes suggested Ezeli will undergo season-ending surgery at some point this season, his career in Portland could be over before it ever starts. Save for the motivational speeches.
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Still, none of this explains why the Blazers rank second-to-last in defensive rating, allowing 109.9 points per 100 possessions — a mark that was even worse before a recent string of stingy defense. And it doesn’t explain the signing of Turner, who has come at a detriment to both the team’s offense and defense at an average annual value of $17.5 million. He’s played all but three games for Portland this season, but he probably shouldn’t deliver any motivational speeches anytime soon, either.
There’s plenty of time for the Blazers to right this ship, considering they only trail the Sacramento Kings by a game for the West’s eighth and final playoff spot, but maybe they should consider leaving the lectures to Damian Lillard going forward. Just wait until he isn’t wearing street clothes, too.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
