<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nets-news-darius-bazley-brooklyn-signing-expectations-role');   ga('set', 'title', 'Darius Bazley reveals motivation behind Nets signing, expectations for role');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Thumbs-17-2.jpg"></figure><h1>Darius Bazley reveals motivation behind Nets signing, expectations for role</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-07-20T17:49:33-07:00">July 20th, 5:49pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-07-20T17:49:33-07:00">July 20th, 5:49pm</time><address><a>Erik Slater</a>Brooklyn Nets beat reporter for ClutchPoints. Graduate of Lehigh University and the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. Lehigh Football and Syracuse Football alum. Keeping you up to date on everything Nets. Follow on Twitter below.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Brooklyn Nets’ offseason moves signal a team with a shifting timeline and mindset. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-grading-joe-harris-trade-pistons" rel="noopener">Nets swapped out</a> aging shooters and defensive liabilities in Joe Harris, Patty Mills and Seth Curry for young, versatile athletes in Dennis Smith Jr., Lonnie Walker IV and Darius Bazley.</p><p>Bazley, the latest <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nets-news-brooklyn-signs-former-first-round-pick-darius-bazley-to-1-year-deal">Nets free agent signing</a>, pointed to that athleticism and defensive versatility when speaking on what he’ll bring to Brooklyn:</p><p>“Being able to match-up one through four, one through five, guard bigger wings and guard smaller guards as well. I’m looking forward to that,” he said Thursday. “And then offensively, just getting my athleticism into the game, being a knock-down shooter and just having fun playing.”</p><p>After deciding to skip college in favor of the G-League, Bazley took an unconventional route to the NBA, agreeing to a three-month internship with New Balance that paid him $1 million. After spending that post-grad year training, the forward was selected 23rd overall in the 2019 draft. He started 108 games for the Thunder from 2020-2022, averaging 12.1 points and 6.7 rebounds on 41/29/70 shooting splits.</p><p>While he struggled to crack Oklahoma City’s rotation last season, playing a career-low 15.4 minutes per game over 36 appearances before being traded to Phoenix, the 23-year-old still showed flashes of two-way capability:</p><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><p>With his sights set on a fresh NBA opportunity, Brooklyn’s shift towards youth and athleticism caught Bazley’s eye following the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving trades last season:</p><p>“The young core, with also a veteran presence as well. Just watching them in the playoffs,” he said when asked what attracted him to the Nets. “The new team they had towards the end here, just watching them. They looked like they had fun; they looked like they played hard and together.”</p><p>“It was just something I wanted to be a part of.”</p><p>With the Nets’ logjam on the wing, Bazley’s minutes will likely come in the frontcourt. He played sparingly at the five last season with the Thunder missing a backup center behind Jaylin Williams. At 6-foot-9 with a seven-foot wingspan, Bazley’s ball handling and semblance of a three-point shot (31 percent for his career) could prove valuable alongside Ben Simmons in a change-of-pace center role.</p><p>And while Bazley would ideally like to play on the wing, he said he can impact the game in whatever role necessary:</p><p>“I don’t like to limit myself because I do like to think of myself as versatile, but ideally I’m on the wing being able to play off the catch, get out in transition off the dribble,” he said. “But I feel like at the end of the day, I’m a basketball player, so just me being on the floor, I’m gonna find a way to bring something to the game.”</p><p>Bazley’s one-year, vet minimum deal is <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/brooklyn-nets/darius-bazley-31581/" rel="noopener">non-guaranteed</a> with a $200,000 opening night trigger and a $700,000 mid-December trigger, according to Sportrac. The contract will be fully guaranteed on January 10.</p><p>The newest Net said he’s excited to bring his game to New York as he battles to carve out a role in the NBA:</p><p>“This is like the Mecca of basketball,” Bazley said. “So just playing in front of fans that appreciate the game, that love the game of basketball, love the sport.”</p><p>“I think it’d be really fun.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Darius Bazley reveals motivation behind Nets signing, expectations for role

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/suns-news-darius-bazley-year-in-review');   ga('set', 'title', 'Suns’ Darius Bazley: 2022-23 Year in Review');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bazley.jpg"></figure><h1>Suns’ Darius Bazley: 2022-23 Year in Review</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2023-06-16T17:17:25-07:00">June 16th, 5:17pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2023-06-16T17:17:25-07:00">June 16th, 5:17pm</time><address><a>Trevor Booth</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><b>Name: </b>Darius Bazley </p><p><b>Position: </b>Forward </p><p><b>Height: </b>6-foot-9</p><p><b>Weight: </b>216 pounds </p><h2><b>Season recap </b></h2><p>One day after their blockbuster deal for Kevin Durant, the Suns <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-phoenix-makes-first-move-kevin-durant-trade-deal-with-thunder" rel="noopener">traded</a> for Darius Bazley, who was the No. 23 pick in the 2019 draft. </p><p>Bazley played his first 3 ½ seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He started 108 combined games in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. </p><p>Darius Bazley suffered a tibial plateau fracture in a March game in 2022. He returned for the start of the 2022-23 season but did not start for the Thunder. </p><p>Seeking some perimeter help, the Suns traded forward Dario Saric, a 2029 second-round pick and cash considerations for Bazley, who has great athleticism. He also has defensive potential with his listed 7-foot wingspan. </p><p>He did not get to show it much for the Suns. Bazley did not find a role in the team’s rotation and only entered playoff games when they were effectively over. </p><p>Darius Bazley is a restricted free agent. The Suns can extend a qualifying offer of $6,205,035, or he will become an unrestricted free agent. </p><p>Phoenix’s future plans should decide if they will keep Bazley or not. </p><p>Bazley just finished his fourth season, but he is 23 years old. He had potential <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfj-q87H9co" rel="noopener">seen</a> in the Suns’ final game of the regular season, when he had 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting in just under 27 minutes. </p><p>Bazley had this poster dunk over Clippers center Ivica Zubac: </p><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><h2><b>What he did best </b></h2><p>Suns fans did not see Darius Bazley much this season. You can tell with his physique, he is someone who can build on his athleticism and rangy wingspan and turn into a stronger player. He is just 23 years old and has time to grow into his body. </p><p>Strangely, Bazley did not play after the high school level before the NBA. He intended to play college basketball at Syracuse but opted for the NBA G-League and then decided to train on his own. He was a five-star prospect in the 2018 class by the 247Sports Composite. </p><p>Bazley got plenty of run with the Thunder, who are a very young team, but his role obviously changed with the Suns. He sat behind forwards Terrence Ross and T.J. Warren, who did not play much in the postseason themselves, so it was hard to see what he can do outside of the final regular-season game.</p><p>In that contest, Bazley played with the backups, so it was never possible to see what he looked like next to Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and other starters. Bazley clearly has a lot of talent though and had good spurts in practices open to the media. </p><p>He is bigger than a lot of people, and it’s simply hard to guard him because of how long he is. He can take advantage of small forwards if he plays there, and it seems like he has the skill set for it given his coordination, handle and explosiveness around the rim. </p><h2><b>What he can improve on </b></h2><p>Bazley did not show much he could improve on since he did not play often. But he is young, so he has to continue to understand he has to prove himself, especially if he is on a championship contender. </p><p>NBA veterans will see Bazley is young and skinnier, so they will go at him. It’s on him to work on strength training so he can bulk up and be more of a stalwart against experienced players. </p><p>Bazley has solid athleticism and can use it to his advantage. He has to be intentional at enforcing his strengths and showing he is not afraid to do his best.</p><p>There have been several high-caliber players who have entered the league skinny and have had to shape up. This is a far-fetched example, but Giannis Antetokounmpo put strength to his body and is arguably the hardest one-on-one player to stop from getting to the rim. Bazley might even have more athleticism than him and can become an effective player once he puts on strength. </p><p>Does Bazley have a hungry attitude, though? That remains to be seen. Competitive edge is something an NBA player needs to survive a grueling 82-game season. Contracts can make players softer, too, so he has to prove he’s proving himself beyond a bigger deal. </p><h2><b>Future outlook </b></h2><p>The Suns are going all-in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-chris-paul-guarantee-free-agency" rel="noopener">for a championship</a> this season, so we don’t know if Bazley will be <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-yuta-watanabe-phoenix-suns-kevin-durant" rel="noopener">in those plans</a>. He is cheap, however, so if they feel like they can develop him, he could be worth keeping around. </p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Suns’ Darius Bazley: 2022-23 Year in Review

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers star Russell Westbrook’s honest reaction to ejection over Darius Bazley’s disrespectful dunk');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/image_2021-10-28_130124.png"></figure><h1>Lakers star Russell Westbrook’s honest reaction to ejection over Darius Bazley’s disrespectful dunk</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2021-10-27T22:02:16-07:00">October 27th, 10:02pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2021-10-27T22:38:39-07:00">October 27th, 10:38pm</time><address><a href="https://medium.com/@rpsalao">R.P. Salao</a>Check out my best stuff on Medium - medium.com/@rpsalao.I also post quality NBA YouTube content - tinyurl.com/SalaoYouTube.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Russell Westbrook and the Los Angeles Lakers had a night to forget against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In a contest that was supposed to be a feel-good game with Russ’ return to OKC, things took a turn for the purple and gold.</p><p>The Lakers finished the first quarter up 41-19 and were up by as much as 26 points before the Thunder rallied back to take an eight-point victory. The miserable defeat was capped off by Russell Westbrook <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-russell-westbrook-ejected-after-fuming-over-disrespectful-dunk-by-darius-bazley/">getting ejected in the game’s dying seconds</a> as he was enraged by Darius Bazley dunking the ball <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1453556856610304002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1453556856610304002%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost-new.php">with the game out of hand.</a></p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Westbrook v. OKC Thunder after what he felt was a disrespectful dunk by Darius Bazley. Led to a Russ ejection.</p><p>He finished with:<br>• 20 points<br>• 14 rebounds<br>• 13 assists<br>• 10 turnovers<br>• 2 technicals<a href="https://t.co/YSEEMpKFSy" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/YSEEMpKFSy</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1453556856610304002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">October 28, 2021</a></p></blockquote><p></p></figure><p>Westbrook spoke out on the testy sequence right before the buzzer sounded, via ClutchPoints’ Lakers reporter Michael Corvo:</p><blockquote>“It is what it is. I don’t think I should have gotten the first tech … If the last one was a tech, that’s cool. But, just how I play the game — I’m old school. When shit like that happens, I don’t let it slide. I’ll take it on the chin and move on.”“But in the game of basketball, there’s just certain things you don’t do,” continued the Lakers star. “Like in baseball, you don’t flip the bat. There’s certain things you just don’t do in sports. Game’s already over. And I didn’t like it, simple as that.”</blockquote><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><p>The frustrations certainly got the better of Russell Westbrook, who posted a triple-double on the evening but also had 10 turnovers to go along with it. The Lakers star will definitely look to bounce back as they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers star Russell Westbrook’s honest reaction to ejection over Darius Bazley’s disrespectful dunk

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Russell Westbrook ejected after fuming over disrespectful dunk by Darius Bazley');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/image_2021-10-28_113105.png"></figure><h1>Lakers’ Russell Westbrook ejected after fuming over disrespectful dunk by Darius Bazley</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2021-10-27T19:44:36-07:00">October 27th, 7:44pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2021-10-27T22:30:52-07:00">October 27th, 10:30pm</time><address><a href="https://medium.com/@rpsalao">R.P. Salao</a>Check out my best stuff on Medium - medium.com/@rpsalao.I also post quality NBA YouTube content - tinyurl.com/SalaoYouTube.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers were upset big time by a previously winless Oklahoma City Thunder squad.</p><p>Russell Westbrook was in no mood after the loss as OKC’s Darius Bazley dunked the ball in the game’s final seconds. Russ garnered his second technical of the game after jawing over the play, which led to his ejection.</p><p>Check out the Lakers star berate Bazley and <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1453551284909264899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1453551284909264899%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fclutchpoints.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D1538814action%3Dedit">get tossed from the arena:</a></p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Russell Westbrook assessed his second technical foul and ejected for grilling Darius Bazley with a thousand “DONT DO THAT”s in the final seconds <a href="https://t.co/XYrGUJqHFw" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/XYrGUJqHFw</a></p><p>— Wobthony Edwards (@WorldWideWob) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1453551284909264899?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">October 28, 2021</a></p></blockquote><p></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Westbrook's ejection</p><p>20 PTS, 14 REB, 13 AST, 10 TO<a href="https://t.co/rVC4I5ha7D" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/rVC4I5ha7D</a></p><p>— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1453553400382205954?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">October 28, 2021</a></p></blockquote><p></p></figure><p>The Lakers were on the second night of a back-to-back on the road and were clearly dealing with some fatigue towards the end of this one.</p><p>After storming out to a 41-19 lead to end the first quarter, the Thunder turned the tables on them with steady contributions from all around the roster. The Thunder had six players in double-figures, including a 27-point outing from frontman Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.</p><p>The Lakers were led by Anthony Davis’ 30 points and eight rebounds. Westbrook had a productive night on the box score with a 20-point, 14-rebound, 13-assist triple-double, but he also had 10 turnovers on the evening for an ignominious quadruple-double stat line.</p><p> </p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Most quadruple-hobbles (triple-double with 10 turnovers) since 1985:</p><p>6 — Russell Westbrook<br>3 — James Harden<br>1 — 6 players tied <a href="https://t.co/dyFNASfGxy" target="_blank">pic.twitter.com/dyFNASfGxy</a></p><p>— StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href="https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1453547038046515204?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">October 28, 2021</a></p></blockquote><p></p></figure><p>The Lakers were still without LeBron James, who <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/wizards-news-kyle-kuzma-reveals-how-lebron-james-anthony-davis-changed-his-career/">continues to nurse</a> his injured ankle. They’ll have a chance to regroup on Friday night when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Russell Westbrook ejected after fuming over disrespectful dunk by Darius Bazley

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '');   ga('set', 'title', 'OKC’s Darius Bazley reacts to putting clamps on Thunder icon Russell Westbrook');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Thunder-Darius-Bazley-Russell-Westbrook-Wizards.jpeg"><figcaption>Bazley gave Westbrook some fits</figcaption></figure><h1>OKC’s Darius Bazley reacts to putting clamps on Thunder icon Russell Westbrook</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2021-04-20T08:15:51-07:00">April 20th, 8:15am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2021-04-20T08:15:51-07:00">April 20th, 8:15am</time><address><a>Julian Fadullon</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Don’t look now, folks, but the Washington Wizards might just make this year’s play-in tournament between the 7th-10th seeds. With <a href="https://www.bulletsforever.com/2021/4/19/22392981/washington-wizards-oklahoma-city-thunder-nba-game-recap">Monday’s 119-107 win</a> over the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Wizards are now owners of a five game win streak, and are tied with the Chicago Bulls for the Eastern Conference’s 10th seed with 14 games left in the regular season.</p><p>Rule of thumb: never count out a Russell Westbrook-led team.</p><p>Speaking of Westbrook, he and co-star Bradley Beal led the Wizards to the victory, with “Brodie” posting a triple-double (13 points, 17 assists, 11 rebounds) and Beal leading all scorers with 30 points. As for the Thunder, they continue to limp towards the finish line. With star and leader Shai Gilgeous-Alexander presumably out for the remainder of the season, the rest of their games will be aimed towards developing their young talent. Which brings us to the man of the hour, Darius Bazley. Never heard of him? Well, he’s the gentleman who dropped 26 on the Wizards and held Westbrook (reasonably) in check:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Darius Bazley on guarding Russell Westbrook: "I don't think I did too bad, but we still lost. So I feel like I could've done something more."</p><p>Baze actually held Russ to his lowest point total and lowest FG% since the Wiz played the Knicks' #1 defense 14 games ago.</p><p>— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrandonRahbar/status/1384338987700015109?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">April 20, 2021</a></p></blockquote><p></p></figure><p>The lowest FG% since the Wizards faced the best defense in the league? Not bad for Bazley. He took the news like a veteran too. Most young players would have been excited at playing as well as he did against a former team legend, but Bazley took it on the chin. He knows what this Thunder team can do with the proper development, and it’s good to see a young player with his competitive fire. Well, if you’re not going to hype yourself up, Darius, let’s leave it to your head coach:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Mark Daigneault on Darius Bazley: "He was awesome. He was big time. We get in at 3 o'clock in the morning last night. He played big minutes last night and we matched his minutes with Russell."</p><p>Baze scored a career high 26 and went 11-13 from the foul line.</p><p>— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrandonRahbar/status/1384336036180860932?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">April 20, 2021</a></p></blockquote><p></p></figure><p>Between Bazley, Lou Dort, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder really do have an intriguing trio of two-way playmakers on the perimeter. Throw in the skinny but talented big Alkesej Pokusevski (Poku if you want to fit in), and the Thunder have an interesting roster going into next season. Eventually their development will back up the talk, as all four have shown flashes of brilliance. For now, they will do what they can. Bazley’s ability to limit Westbrook is just the latest positive sign for the Thunder.</p><p> </p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

OKC’s Darius Bazley reacts to putting clamps on Thunder icon Russell Westbrook

Sekou Doumbouya

Alfonzo McKinnie

Malik Beasley

Frank Jackson

Darius Bazley

Cameron Johnson

Frank Mason III

P.J. Washington

Brandon Clarke

Bruno Caboclo

Oklahoma City Thunder

Phoenix Suns

Philadelphia 76ers

Utah Jazz

Career

1 season

https://twitter.com/BazleyDarius/status/1635107744494784512/

Bruh why they pick snoop dogg to be the pastor 😂

https://twitter.com/BazleyDarius/status/1627570981853343744/

https://twitter.com/BazleyDarius/status/1626479771331997697/

Do females understand men have feelings as well?🤔

https://twitter.com/BazleyDarius/status/1621010760548880390/

https://twitter.com/BazleyDarius/status/1618530742061117441/

https://twitter.com/BazleyDarius/status/1612946177485307914/

“Vibing in Hawaii”

“Letter to Love”

“Beautiful Struggle”

“Return”

“JAMROCK”

“No More Lies”

“My Life”

https://twitter.com/BazleyDarius/status/1608326705604694018/

https://twitter.com/BazleyDarius/status/1607990722732462082/

Darius
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OKC’s Darius Bazley reacts to putting clamps on Thunder icon Russell Westbrook

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2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
-	0.3	0.7	-	-

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
-	0.3	0.7	-	-