Los Angeles Lakers teammates Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard were involved in a heated exchange in the first half of Friday night’s loss to the Phoenix Suns.
During a timeout in the second quarter, Davis and Howard had to be separated by teammates after the pair started jawing on the bench.
After the game, Davis revealed to reporters that the altercation stemmed from a blown pick-and-roll assignment.
“Just a pick-and-roll scene,” Davis explained. “That was it. All of us are still trying to figure it out on the defensive end. Something happened. I was saying one thing, he was saying another on the scheme and one thing led to another. Like I said, we talked about it and we left it in the locker room at halftime.”
Howard also downplayed the incident, saying, “We squashed it right then and there.”
He continued, “We just had a disagreement about something that was on the floor. We’re both very passionate about winning. We didn’t want to lose this game, so we’re just passionate. We got it out the way. We’re grown men. Things happen. But we are going to squash this little issue between me and him, and that’s my brother, that’s my teammate.”
Meanwhile, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel shrugged off the dustup, telling reporters that he’d “rather our guys care, than not care.”
“Dwight and AD had a miscue on a coverage and they talked it out,” Voegel said. “But you know, when you’re getting your ass kicked sometimes those conversations get heated Those guys love each other. They talked it out and that’s going to happen from time to time.”
