I’ve been a big Skal Labissiere fan ever since he put together some monster games for the Kings back in his rookie season. For some reason, coaches don’t see a reason to play him even though it’s quite obvious from my perspective that he’s a versatile big who can score on the inside, score on the outside, never pass the ball (because passing is for the weak-willed), and get the crowd amped with displays of superior athleticism.
This is honestly a Christian Wood situation, I feel like. Both Wood and Labissiere are raw, but multi-talented big men who have been unfairly held down by less-than-competent coaching. I’m guessing that Labissiere’s shortcoming is his defense (something I don’t care about), but Stotts has already shown a willingness to play a big who is a poor defender (Kanter), not to mention a pair of midget guards who would only be average on defense if they even tried, which they don’t always. So why hold Labissiere out?
My first thought is that Stotts is part of some anti-Haitian cabal of elites who plot ways to marginalize both Haitians in their own country and Americans of Haitian descent. However, that seems like a lot of work when Stotts could just withhold minutes from Labissiere for whatever reason he wanted. I’m not sure any of those reasons are good reasons, but as the coach, he gets final say on minutes allocations no matter how obscure his methods are.
Labissiere was always capable of this. The entire time he was riding the pine in Sacramento and then Portland, you could have put him in the game, told him he was getting a guaranteed eight minutes without being subbed, and he would have done things like this. Nobody can change my mind here. He is a certified beastmuffin and studrocket and it was only a matter of time before he reminded us of that fact.