Brandon Jennings was benched late in the Milwaukee Bucks’ 100-92 loss at Philadelphia Wednesday, and he is not happy about it.
Jennings was benched after giving up a layup to 76ers point guard Jrue Holiday in the third quarter and did not play the rest of the game. Jennings ended up scoreless for the first time in his NBA career. His coach, Jim Boylan, said he removed Jennings because he wanted more intensity and energy.
Jennings noted this was the third time he’s been benched in the second half of a game. He said he always wants to be out there to help his team. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Jennings also said he feels he is being singled out.
“I don’t see any all-stars in this locker room so I think everybody should be held accountable, like anybody else,” Jennings said per Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel. “There’s no maxed-out players in this locker room; there’s no all-stars. So don’t try to put me on a pedestal and just give everybody else the freedom to do whatever they want.”
The Bucks actually led during the fourth quarter, but the 76ers went on a 15-0 run to reclaim the lead.
Boylan defended his decision to bench Jennings.
“So you have to bring it every single night, at both ends of the floor. If that’s not happening, you need to do something. I just felt I needed to do something tonight, so that’s what I did,” he said, via the Journal Sentinel.
Wednesday marked the third time this month that Jennings had a poor game. He had four points in 27 minutes during a March 12 loss to the Mavericks, and four points on 1-for-15 shooting in a loss to the Pacers last week. Jennings may feel like he is being singled out, but if he wants to be considered a franchise type player, he can’t have games like this.
H/T Rotoworld
