The Oklahoma City Thunder are in a tough spot right now, having lost their two superstars (Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook) to injury until at least mid-December.
That means backup point guard Reggie Jackson will be relied on the carry the team. That's fine with Jackson, who has expressed his desire to leave the Thunder in free agency to be a starter for a team, as he won't be a full-time starter for Oklahoma City as long as they have Westbrook.
He's getting his chance to prove himself with Westbrook out, and against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, his teammates thought he went a little to far. According to The Oklahoman's Darnell Mayberry, Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins though Jackson was playing so selfishly that they froze him out and refused to pass him the ball.
Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins grew frustrated with Jackson by the third quarter. Both big men began freezing out their point guard, refusing to pass him the ball to lead the break following defensive rebounds.
After the game, Perkins admitted he and Ibaka grew frustrated with the point guard.
"Just let the game come to you," Perkins said about Jackson. "But with myself and with Serge, we got to do a better job with our body language and leadership skills, because I didn't like the way I acted in the Brooklyn game as far as my body language toward Reggie. But we know Reggie means well. We support him. He's one of my good friends off the court. So it's no harm in that."
Jackson scored 23 points against the Nets, but he took 20 shots and turned the ball over seven times.
On Tuesday, he responded with a career-high 14 assists against the Raptors.
Back to the Oklahoma City Thunder Newsfeed