Russell Westbrook Comments on Being Benched During Lakers' OT Win vs. Knicks

Russell Westbrook once again found himself stapled to the end of the bench in crunch time, with Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel sitting the 2017 MVP for the entire overtime period of Saturday's 122-115 win over the New York Knicks.

Westbrook, who scored five points on 1-for-10 shooting in one of the worst games of his career before being benched, managed to keep a positive disposition after the game.

"The best part of this game is that you win," Westbrook told reporters. "Guys competed. We won the game, and that's all that matters."

This is the second time in the span of three weeks that Vogel has gone without Westbrook in crunch time. He previously sat the embattled point guard for the final 3:52 of a Jan. 19 loss to the Indiana Pacers, leading Westbrook to leave Crypto.com Arena without speaking to reporters.

Westbrook fulfilled his media requirement this time around, saying his main issue the last time he was benched was that it came in a losing effort. 

"I just talked to [Vogel] about that I was upset about it," Westbrook said of the loss to the Pacers. "But I was more upset I didn't win the game. But not about when or how he would do it. But it doesn't matter. Like I said, it's not about me. I don't want to make it about me. It's more about our team and our guys. Tonight we got a good win and now move onto the next one."

Westbrook has increasingly become the focus of a disappointing Lakers season, with home fans booing him and actively discouraging him from shooting Saturday night. LeBron James and Anthony Davis both spoke of the need to keep Westbrook's head in the game amid his struggles.

"I told him to keep going, to stop second-guessing himself during the game," James said. "There were a couple of times where he had good looks, second-guessed himself and a couple times where he had some drives and he had them and second-guessed himself. He's an instinctive player and he should never, what he's done in this league, he should never second-guess himself if he's put the work in—and he's put the work in."

Westbrook is averaging 18.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists this season, his lowest scoring output since his second NBA season.