A lot has been made of Antawn Jamison getting five consecutive DNPs after looking like he had finally started to pick things up in the last couple contests he actually made it onto the court. Fans have been asking about Jamison’s status and why he hasn’t been earning any playing time.
Following last night’s victory over Portland at the Staples Center, Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni talked about Jamison’s status and why he isn’t currently in the rotation. However, according to Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times, Jamison wasn’t buying what D’Antoni was selling.
“Fifteen years,” the Lakers forward said, recapping his career. “My only thing is let me know why. I don’t think you go from starting and 30-something minutes to not in the rotation whatsoever. And not explaining to me what exactly happened, that’s the toughest thing. There’s nothing you can do but be positive and support your teammates. The only reason I came here was they said I was going to play and to win a championship.”
There’s no question Jamison is frustrated with his lack of a role on this team. To this point he’s kept quiet and said the right things, but it seems that not getting into Friday night’s blowout win over Portland was more than Jamison could tolerate.
Whether or not he gets back into the rotation in the future is obviously yet to be seen, but for now it seems that he will continue to stay benched until D’Antoni decides to change his mind.
This season he’s averaged 7.2 points for the Lakers in 25 games.
