The Portland Trail Blazers are desperately searching for answers this season. The Trail Blazers are ninth in the Western Conference with a 15-21 record, and looking nothing like the team that finished six games above .500 in the 2015-16 campaign.
Following the Trail Blazers' 115-107 loss to the Bucks in Milwaukee in early December, which resulted in their 11th loss in 13 games, Festus Ezeli spoke to his teammates when they returned to the locker room. Ezeli reportedly delivered what ESPN's Chris Haynes referred to as "a stern speech centered on playing with urgency." Now, it's important to note that Ezeli has played approximately zero minutes in a Blazers uniform. Needless to say, the Blazers weren't trying to hear him, and teammate C.J. McCollum reportedly stepped up and cut off him off mid-sentence.
According to Haynes, Ezeli's decision to voice his opinion wasn't well-received because "being lectured by someone who wasn’t even playing wasn’t received favorably." Like every team, there's a hierarchy, and for Portland, it starts with Damian Lillard. McCollum isn't too far behind. Now, go all the way to the bottom of the roster, and that's where you will find Ezeli, who still needs to pay his dues with the Trail Blazers before trying to deliver a motivational speech.
With the Trail Blazers just one game out of the 8th and final spot in the Western Conference, all is not lost for this franchise. However, they need to turn this ship around before it's too late.
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