URGENT: Do NOT Close the Book on Cam Whitmore | Washington Wizards Standards REVEALED

URGENT: Do NOT Close the Book on Cam Whitmore | Washington Wizards Standards REVEALED

With all of these rumors swirling right now about Cam Whitmore and his practice habits, I’m here to tell you right now, do not close the book on Cam Whitmore. You are Locked on Wizards, your daily Washington Wizards podcast, part of the Locked Onet. Your team every day. DC family, you are locked on to the Washington Wizards, where you’re part of our family. We thank you for making Lockdown Wizards your first listen every single day. We’re part of the Lockdown On podcast network where it’s your team every day. We’re the number one sports podcast network out there currently. And today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long alongside the DC sports content creating Savan Abdullah Aubie. I’m Ben Shro and I cover the Wizards for Roundt.io. AB, how’s it going today? I just want to say this Cam Whitmore news just in general, no Wizards basketball for 5 days. It’s going to be a long five days because we just want to see how Ken Whitmore does the next time he steps on the court. But it was fun talking with Verun and it just sucks, Ben, because the team, you know, not that much success overall when it comes to winning this season so far, but we know the long-term vision. And on top of that, they can’t whip more news and everyone trolling the Wizards on social media saying like, “What’s the standard? They’re just they’re just losing.” It’s just Yeah, it’s it’s a lot. I know it’s not shocking. Obviously, everyone everyone will take a jab at the Wizards as an NBA punching bag. But we keep on moving forward. That’s all we can do sometime. All right. Outline for you today’s show. Uh, didn’t expect to be talking Cam Whitmore again, but uh, a recent article that came out part of rg.org by Grant Ath, if I’m saying that right, detailing some new information maybe about the Cam Whitmore benching. If you missed our episode with Verun Shunker from the Washington Post, I recommend you go check that one out as well. He gave us some great information on what he thinks led to him receiving a DNP on Saturday night. Uh, moving forward, I kind of want to reiterate some points about what this says about the Wizards organization moving forward here. Uh, and then just some thoughts to close up the episode about what the Wizards might work on in practice this week. Uh, I plan on getting out to practice on Wednesday. I was going to go tomorrow actually, AB, but I’m a bit under the weather, so I’m not going to head out there tomorrow. But I want to start with the news that we unpack from today. So, Grant Ath of RG Media, he posted an article, sources, practice habits at center of Cam Whitmore shrinking role. And I saw the one tweet that was put out saying, uh, per a source, if you’re trying to establish yourself in the NBA, you need to show up to practice, one source told RG. Now, I think that quote gets taken out of context a little bit there. I think when their source is saying you need to show up to practice, I think they mean like physically show up in terms of the day in dayout preparation within the drills like your energy levels. I don’t think it means he physically didn’t show up to practice. So I think that’s like a rumor that probably exists out there. And I don’t know anything definitively. I’m sure people will ask Brian Keef about tomorrow. I kind of doubt he really answers. He usually doesn’t. I mean, he says that they like to keep this stuff internal in these situations, which I I understand to an extent, but uh it makes it a little bit hard and it leaves it leaves it susceptible to, you know, people speculating in the situation. But the reporting from this article says the Wizards concerns are tied to his day-to-day approach, his practice habits, consistency, meeting team standards rather than isolated in-game moments. Which is interesting that this information comes out because Verun had alluded to some different things that maybe had happened uh in the game a couple of nights prior to Saturday against Boston, I believe, where they lost by 45, maybe some lapses in transition defense. So the message that Keefe is trying to essentially put forth from the organization here is that accountability, internal benchmarks, and the organization stance that Whitmer must meet these standards to earn his minutes back is what he’s trying to reiterate here. And I understand that. And I think a lot of the knee-jerk reaction we’ve seen uh from people that are following the NBA, people that are fans of the Wizards are either saying that the organization is making an absolutely terrible decision right here by like scapegoating Cam Whitmore in the situation when other people could be deserving of blame. But I’m here to tell you that we need to put those conversations to bed because it’s not time to close the book on Cam Whitmore right now. I think this is a great learning experience for Cam Whitmore and it’s exactly what the Wizards organization is trying to build internally. Well, at the end of the day, there’s not results on the floor. We know that right now, Abdullah, it’s very evident that the team is not going to show you results on the floor. We’d like to see more of the results, and I think it’s something that you can monitor. It’s something you can definitely question in terms of how the organization is building. But if internally the standard of like practice performances and the energy level from Cam Whitmore isn’t to what they believe it should be, I understand the decision. This doesn’t mean Whitmore is never going to be in the rotation again. Verun literally told us yesterday. He said Whitmore will get another opportunity in the rotation. This is a really good example of what a learning experience can do for somebody here. Cam Whitmore is 21 years old. It is far too early to give up on this guy. I think he’s got all the potential. They just need the alignment to stay there with them. And I think this is going to be an experience he takes away and ultimately makes himself better as a result because of it. And this his third year in the league and like you mentioned practice physically obviously he’s there but mentally Ben you have to realize that this is a young squad that right now it’s going to be tough to scratch some wins but we want to be competitive. We want to look at the long-term vision and the goal here is to build a contender. we’re tearing it down and we’re trying to build everything up. And for Kent Whitmore, that was kind of the knock on him in the 2023 draft. And that’s why he fell ultimately. I was a big fan of him. I wanted the Wizards to draft him. Hometown kid and the character concerns were very much big back then and even Houston when he couldn’t find a role. It just that was the bigger cause. We saw the we we all see the talent there with Cam. I mean, he’s so athletic, so explosive. We saw media day everyone hyping him up saying that he can bounce out of a gym. And it is I it is concerning that people are thinking that the Wizards are using him as a scapegoat which I don’t think they are. I think it’s just a learning experiment because he is a young guy still and fitting the standard. I think it it hurt more Ben the fact that like it was a game when you’re already thin at the wing position with injuries like Bal Koulali, Cory Kisper and just Cam W not playing one minute at all. It it did suck. However, like you mentioned, I think it’s this maybe this is a turning point for Kim’s thinking that, hey, I have an I got a great opportunity coming back home. I talked about it this whole offseason. I got traded here. I mean, Ben, when we went we went live when Kent Wmore got traded for two second round picks and that live stream got like 10,000 views. Wizards fans were hyped about getting this kid. No, it was a big deal nationally was traded to Washington because a lot of people thought it would be the turning point in his career and there’s been the flashes of that AB. Not to cut you off, but this is a situation that’s not going to spell the end of Cam Whitmore. And I think Whitmore’s under the microscope a little bit differently than some of the other players. And I’ve seen people comment saying it seems like Whitmore doesn’t get the same treatment than the players that were drafted by this organization uh by the current regime in the first round. And I think there’s truth to that. But the reason why that’s the situation is because the organization wants to create alignment for the future. They want everyone to be in line with what their principles are. And I know they were hiring him in the draft process, but that’s not who they took in the first round two years ago. It was Bal Koulabali who they got in that draft and they’re very happy to have Cam Whitmore in the building right now, but he needs to be bought in to what the organization wants to do going forward. And whether or not Whitmore uh, you know, learns from this experience remains to be seen. I think he’s going to learn from it personally. He’s got all the talent in the world. He has all the upside. That’s why this was a big lowrisk swing that Will Dawkins took here. And we’ve seen those flashes. I think it’s about putting it together and having him really bought in to what Washington is trying to build here. I think that’s something that’s going to continue to get better as time rolls along here. And Ben, this is the same Cam Whitmore that dunked on Jaylen Durant not too long ago. This is the same Cam Whitmore that gets highlighted real dunks every single game. You see the talent and if the work ethic is questionable, then the Wizards coaching staff, they’ll call it out. And I understand people are going to nitpick on the Wizards saying poverty franchise, like what are you doing? But again, this is a professional organization. They’re trying to do things right. No shortcuts during this rebuild. And I think this will be a turning point, Ben. And this is a a point in time where, like I mentioned earlier, the wing position very thin right now with these injuries. We need Kim Worth to go out there and step and just ball out. I mean, a guy in Justin Champen, he’s out there doing many things at his size at 65 getting seven to eight rebounds a game and dishing the ball, scoring the ball. You you love to see that. With Cam, it’s offensively on those fast breaks. If you see a guy open, try not to play the isolation ball. And I think he’ll learn from it. Practice being there mentally. That’s what’s really important. And I’ve seen a lot of people on social media saying that he’s going to find himself out of the league soon if he doesn’t solve these issues. I’m hoping that’s not the case, Ben, because again, he is a young guy, so it’s going to take some time to understand what he’s going through. And this is maybe a turning point for his whole NBA career in general. I think he’s far too talented to be out of the league in a few years. But I think that’s a ridiculous take at this point to say that Cam Whitmore might not be with his team soon, might not be within the organization or within the NBA in a couple years. I think there’s still a lot of belief in that building in Cam Whitmore. So, I read Troy Hallebertton’s Substack today. I recommend everyone go check out the article because he provided some really good proper context needed within this situation. And I’m going to kind of read verbatim here, not to steal his work, but uh give him the credit for it. go read all of it because there’s a lot more uh to this story that he wrote here. He said, “There’s nothing malicious, nothing scandalous, but moments where it was clear Cam didn’t fully understand how closely the front office watches professionalism, presence, and awareness in a public team setting.” One person described it as a young player who doesn’t fully read the room yet. Another called it typical immaturity, but noted that it was the type of thing that gets noticed when a player doesn’t have built-in organizational equity. These are the things that Wizards are taking notes on. Cam, yet he was still featured in the team’s rotation up until his onc court effort dipped in recent weeks. So now this is interesting. I’m glad he brings up the point of organizational equity. And I made the point that Cam Whitmore isn’t really viewed the same as other players in this organization because it was a lowrisk play. I don’t think the front office is necessarily worried about him specifically not being bought in to what they are trying to instill here in Washington because ultimately this isn’t a guy they drafted and we know that there’s been a lot of due diligence that’s done within the draft process. I think the Wizards know what to expect from the other players that they drafted into this organization. Your Bal, your Keshan, your Bub, your Alex Sar and then recently Trey Johnson, Will Riley. I think they know what to expect from those guys. They didn’t know what to expect from a professional standpoint from Cam Whitmore. And that’s why this like learning situation becomes very important because when you’re under the microscope the way Cam Whitmore is, it’s not just about how talented you are because he was given decent minutes as a feature in the rotation. Maybe not as many as a lot of us would have liked to see because the talent was on display on in plenty of nights. You could definitely see the flashes and why the organization would like to see him as a feature in the rotation. But if he’s not bought in to what they’re trying to do and what habits they’re trying to instill to the organization from a cultural standpoint, that’s essentially why they made him a DNP. I think this is just a blip in the start of hopefully a really long career in Washington for Cam Whitmore. And I think Ben, as long as we’ve been fans, this is the first time we’ve seen a situation like this. Previous regimes, we didn’t really see young guys being dealt with this situation. So, it’s something that we’re going to have to monitor for many more games to come. But I think once Ken Wilmore has that 20point game, hopefully 25 30 point game, we’re going to be like it’s all water under the bridge. 100%. Let’s take our first break. When we come back, I want to just talk a little bit more about what this says about the Wizards organization, what they’re trying to build. When we come back, NFL Sundays move fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not just watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Live betting is the best. When the game starts to shift, a receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up, or the momentum flips after a turnover. FanDuel lets you jump into the moment. The live spreads and money lines adjust instantly. player props update as guys heat up. And you can bet next touchdown scores, drive results, totals, and more. It keeps you locked into every snap, every drive, every possibility. Live betting is simply the most fun way to do it during the NFL season. 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Here, I got the wrong link for it. I’ll get the link for you later. I forgot to put in the read here. Or check the link in the show notes to learn more. So, one of the things I want to get into here, AB, with this organization and how they’re trying to like preach these good habits within the situation for Cam Whitmore is like it’s not even necessarily one direct moment or ultimate conclusion of anything directly about Cam Whitmore that that’s being stated here from this Wizards organization. Because I think when you have a really young team that is focused on this process that the Wizards are in right now. Obviously, they’re still tearing things down, it’s been a complete tear down. It’s been super brutal. It’s been super hard to watch at times, but what comes within your tearing down the organization is you’re finding out what sticks. You’re finding out what habits have occurred from previous regimes, who sticks and who’s going to be around long term. The Wizards have a vision for what they want their players to be and at the end of the day that does fall on the practice habits, the energy and everything that comes with it. So Cam Whitmore, it’s an opportunity for him to lock in and I think the Wizards organization is taking the right approach here trying to make it clear in terms of professionalism that there’s a standard that players in this organization are going to have to reach. I know the results are not showing on the floor and people would say, “Well, the standards aren’t being met because uh Bob is out there turning it over a ton, but I don’t think that necessarily applies the same way within this conversation here.” AB. Yeah. And I think again, like you mentioned, this is the right move because this is professionalism at the end of the day. The NBA, it’s a product where if you’re going to if you’re not going to go out there and give it your 100% and not be locked in with the team, you can’t be playing ISO ball out there, you’re not the only one out there. And that’s what this coaching staff thought that that that’s what Kam Whitmore was doing and said, “Hey, we got to put our foot down and say, “This is what we saw. This is what we need to do and this is what we’re going to do in the future in order for you to still be a Washington Wizard.” And like you mentioned earlier also, Ben, he is too talented to not to eventually play himself out the league. I don’t think that’s the case. I think this will be a turning point. And you do wonder if because it’s it’s funny because Ben remember during media day I always bring up the fact that he said he has always said that he has a chip on his shoulder and maybe just add this to that as well because many people out there are just thinking that can’t win more as a guy who is selfish doesn’t care about anyone on the team a young guy with attitude problems and it’s everything that we’re trying to go out there and just dissolve this notion at the end of the day. Kent Wilmore is a baller. I we’ve seen it very athletic offensively and defensively when he’s involved he can be very impactful hands in the passing lane and we’re just hoping that he finds that role here because again this young Wizard squad with the draft picks that you have and more to come in the future. You got to have those role players here. Maybe Kim Wmore is that guy that like like you always allude to a microwave scoreer. A guy who can go in there off the bench and just give you 10 eight to 10 points just like that off rip. And we saw that in Houston. In Houston before he was dealt, he had, I think, a career-high 30 points against the Lakers. I get it. It was towards the end of the season, towards, I guess you can say, garbage time. But the the proof is in the pudding. Can win more can go out there and ball out. It’s just can he put him the team out there first before he puts himself out there and just overall be a team player cuz that’s what it is right now. I think he understands that this team is not going to the playoffs. They’re not going to win many games. Hopefully see more wins the second half of the season compared to the first half. But it’s about the process. It’s about building a team that’s building a culture that’s not only good off the court, but also on the court where you’re involved. It’s not like you, we saw in the Dallas Mavericks game where you shoot a shot and coach Keefe clearly, you can see he’s visibly upset at him, calls a timeout. We don’t want to see that. That’s the Cam Worth that we don’t want to see. We want to see him pass on a threeon two, twoonone. We want to see him be involved defensively. And again, I think a situation like this is definitely going to help him himself and just the team overall just lock in and try to figure out the ultimate ultimate goal for the rest of the season. At the end of the day, I mean, you look at it this way is the extra motivation for him because if he didn’t already feel like he was playing for his NBA career after he was, you know, traded away from the organization that took him in the first round two years ago. Well, now he especially is now that he’s already figured out that he’s under the microscope. the way he is from the source of his organization. It’s just that added boost of motivation that maybe Cam Whitmore needed to get him fully aligned with what the organization is trying to build. A quick clarifying note, I finally got the link uh that everyone needs for the everyday club. Head to lockdownwizards.supcast.com to join the Everydayer Club and unlock all access. You can also find the link in the show notes. I will post that below. I want to turn back to Troy Substack for just a moment about Cam Whitmore and clarify some things that are important in terms of context about his practice habits. A lot of people within the building and from the organization have had nothing but great things to say about Cam Whitmore in terms of his practice habits. They said that from the get-go in training camp, he’d been ultra competitive, giving maximum effort, and was one of the more vocal people on the team when the team was struggling early on in the season. Uh Troy detailed a specific story from a source that an inner squad scrimmage and training camp. Uh CJ McCullum uh chastised Whitmore for having his jersey untucked and made a point to make a big deal about and it lit a fire in Cam that allowed him to turn into the best version of himself on the court. So I think Whitmore with that story, if that’s indeed the case right there, which I most definitely is if it’s put in the story here, Whitmore responds well to criticism. I feel like this is going to be a situation where he responds to this criticism, where he understands that the Wizards organization is holding itself to a different standard. And although the results might be embarrassing at times in the onc court product, they’re still trying to establish what they want to be in terms of a culture. And that means showing up every single day and giving your full intensity, giving your full effort, trying to establish the habits that are going to lead to better results on the floor. I think Whitmore has proven time and time again, I think he can respond to the criticism and this is going to be a big teaching moment. I’m really looking forward to seeing, you know, when he becomes a feature in this rotation again. If it’s going to be something where we see it on Friday or not, uh, remains to be seen. The Wizards take on Cleveland. It’s going to be interesting to see him out there for the first time again after the DNP last week. And I know a lot of people are viewing this as, oh, the Wizards are giving up on Ken Wilmore. They do not. They’re not giving him a fair shot. But honestly, if you look at it from a different angle, this shows that they actually care about him, Ben, because they generally didn’t care about Ken Wilmore and just excused everything and just ignored what he was doing. They it would just assume that he wouldn’t be a priority. But they see the talent there. they see a guy who you took us two second round picks a swing right there and say, “Hey, we just have to unlock what he’s given us so far and just try to fix up a few things.” So, the fact that this team is going and obviously the reports are going to be reports, but the fact that this team is going out the way to teach him a lesson, I think it does more better for him than rather this whole notion that, oh, he’s being scapegoed and he’s just doomed. Yeah, this is better than him just playing seven minutes a game for the rest of the season or whatever. I know his minutes had decreased in certain sports, gone back up, they’d come back down, and then he gets the DNP. And obviously, like that’s the message right there. And the fact that Keefe showed that transparency is him sending that message to Cam saying like, we hold ourselves to a different standard, believe it or not. Even though the results don’t show that on the floor, we still have a standard that we want to meet. Cam Whitmore has to be part of that equation. Let’s take our last break. Wizards have a long week of practice ahead before they’re finally back in action on Friday. We’ll talk about some different practice things that might pertain to what we see going forward uh over the next stretch of the season here. You know, there’s no reason to let big wireless drain your wallet, especially during the holidays. Right now, Mint Mobile is running their best deal of the year. All of their unlimited plans are 50% off. That means you can lock in three, six, or even 12 months of unlimited premium wireless for just 15 a month. It’s the easiest way to take your overpriced phone bill and give it the full Scrooge treatment. And what makes this even better is how simple Mint makes the switch. No contracts, no nonsense, just real savings and real quality service. 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I think there’s going to be a lot of energy for him in practice this week. I I would I would bet on that. Uh, FanDuel, can I get some odds on Cam Whitmore dunking on people at practice, please? No, I mean, this is gonna be fun, Ben, because it’s due to the fact that the the NCE tournament, I’m assuming, and unfortunately. Yeah, because we didn’t we didn’t advance. Next year. Next year. Next year’s our year. Yeah. And I think Ben, just in general, these next couple of days, you said you’ll be down there. I just want to see how this team plays knowing that there’s not going to be a game within these next couple of days. The next game that you have is against Cleveland and you saw what happened the last time you played Cleveland. You got destroyed at home and we’re also looking to see how Kent Wilmore practices this week and how explosive does he look. Does he look like a guy that’s taking it up and taking that news and saying, “Hey, I’m going to go out there and still find a way to find myself a role here.” And just in general, this Wizard squad, you’re dealing with injuries. You’re hoping to get Alex Sar back. There’s no timetable on Trey Johnson yet, Ben, right? I’m assuming. Yeah. So, we didn’t get a timetable update from Keefe on Saturday, but this is a whole extra week off and it’s about like a two to three week span from when the uh injury initially happened. They said they’d re-evaluate. Uh so, I’m sure Kee will be asked tomorrow if there’s an update, but this is more of an opportunity in practice to see if Trey Johnson can get going because we know that he had begun some of the onc court work with the team at least last week. That’s what was told uh by Will Dawkins to the Junkies. And then Keith also uh relayed that message as well to the media at one of the pregame availabilities. So, I think we’re going to get Trey Johnson back in the fold pretty soon, which we need to see it, man. It’s it’s been too long since we’ve seen the number six overall pick. And it’s something I look forward to so much going into the season. It’s just been such a bummer that we’ve had all the attrition at the, you know, to some of the key young pieces of this team. Kissert uh not really one of the key young pieces but someone that was playing well for this team. Johnson not being the full K cool of Bali missing all the time that he has Sar now missing the last week. It’s been tough to see. It’s been it’s made the basketball harder to watch for sure. Yeah, that was the always the silver line that I was going into this season where I understood we’re not going to uh win a lot of games this team in general. However, we go see Trey Johnson ball out there. And it just sucks now, Ben, because I just see so many people like in reddrafts just not having Trey Johnson in their top 10 and I’m just like, “Oh man, just wait till the kick comes back.” And he’s actually running an offense that allows him to create his own shot and also finds ways to get him open. We’re hoping to see that aggressive Trey. And I think once he comes back again if Kisper and BL is out those shots hopefully will go to the young guy. But man it does not not suck Ben but it just it makes you wonder like man maybe I was wrong about Jeremiah fears because I’m not going to lie guys I think I got to start eating Crow. He’s been hooping. He’s been really hooping and I was questioning the size but clearly it hasn’t mattered so far. And I know the Pelicans they haven’t been winning but they they’re banking on him and Derek Queen. Yeah, he’s shooting a lot better than I thought he would because I think one of the main concerns for him coming out of Oklahoma is that he didn’t shoot from particularly well behind the arc, but uh he’s actually shot the ball, I think around like 36% from three so far in his rookie season. So, it’ll be interesting to see if he keeps up those numbers. Practicing intensity transition stuff I think will be important for them this week. They got killed in transition by Boston and by Atlanta and then I guess you could say even early on in the Milwaukee game. There were issues in terms of transition and that’s going to happen with this Wizards team. One because they’re young and they don’t necessarily have the best habits when it comes to positioning themselves to be back in transition after they push the pace because the Wizards are still a top five team in pace in the NBA. That makes it a lot harder for them to play in transition defense. But it’s one of those things that’s going to get better with experience and repetition. So maybe in practice they can install some things or Ke can reiterate a message here that allows for them to not get caught lacking in transition as much as they have because as Keef himself said when you have a made basket from your offense and then you allow them to get behind the defense and transition and score that is unacceptable. Those are the type of things you cannot have moving forward. Now if you get beat in transition because somebody takes it through the entire defense and nobody could stop them then I don’t know. I guess those things happen, but if you’re just letting a guy roam free behind the defense for an outlet pass and they score, no, no, no, no. That that stuff cannot happen regardless of the rebuilding situation the Wizards are in. I know in high school, Ben, when we struggle defensively, we used to do the shell drill. I don’t know what what do you think? Yeah, the classic. What do you think would work for the Wizards? I mean, obviously, we talk about effort, but like is there a defensive drill out there that you know would help out? I mean, the shell drill could be beneficial for the Wizards. I’m sure the shell drill is like a warm-up for them. We used to do that like 110% for two hours of practice because that’s how important it was at the high school level. But I think the shell drill preaches like rotating and closing out on shots like Right. Am I we thinking about the same shell drill here? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So in that situation, the Wizards don’t close out very well. I think the effort on some of the close out hasn’t necessarily been there, which is problematic at times. And then they also just kind of struggle to rotate when teams move the ball really fast. Boston did it. Atlanta certainly did it. And the bottom line is when you have teams that are really good from the outside and you have really good playmakers on those teams like Jaylen Johnson is for Atlanta, it makes it a lot more difficult uh to stop those guys and get in your rotation. But the Wizards are going to have to find a way to grow from that aspect of their team oriented defense. Especially with Cleveland. I mean Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, those guys they can move. They can move. I was going to say Ben about to wrap it up. I forgot to mention this earlier in the stream. Did you see what Desmond Bade did to OG Anobi? Yeah. To be honest, I saw anyone do that to our boy Trey Johnson or Justice Champ or even Tristan Vuch. Someone’s getting the hands, man. So, I was I was in the studio yesterday during the Commanders monstrosity. I was already I was so pissed off. I was so upset and I know you were too. But Toby Alis was just like laughing his ass off in the corner. I’m like, “What are you laughing about? We’re losing 31 nothing.” and he just like pulls up his photo, shows me Desmond Bane just eating the ball right down on Desmond Bane or on OG Anova. Dude, it was so unnecessary. He was like and the ball flew like 50 ft up in the air backwards and everyone’s like what? Yeah. Like he was clearly in bounds. He was a good amount like a foot away from the baseline. He was like screwed. I’m throwing it off of him. I’m surprised OG didn’t get mad. I mean he’s a chill guy. But I was thinking like if someone did that to the Whiz Kids like there’s got to be some answers for that man. You know what it remind Do you remember that one clip? I think I saw it resurface actually because of this where it’s like a youth basketball game and that one kid just like threw the ball at the kid’s uh kahunas and he like hits him there and then they everybody just stops playing. Everyone thinks they’re going to call like a foul and everyone’s like one dad’s like go and he just starts drilling up the floor and everyone’s like what? Man, it almost reminded me of that. the I don’t know the the the like the one time I remember where I was like wow I actually feel bad for the dude was I don’t know if you remember LeBron when he was with Cleveland and DLO was was in LA he it was bro DLO was on the floor for at least a couple of minutes he couldn’t move and it’s just it sucks but in that case like that with Desmond Bane it’s like what’s the point like it just it doesn’t make any sense why you throwing like he could could grab the ball and just kept going I don’t know I don’t know I’ve seen where they just will toss it into their lap Like you could do that. That’s calm. I mean, that’s nothing crazy. And it’s out on them. No, that was that was personal. That was definitely personal if I’ve ever seen one. But all right, that’ll do it for us here today on Lockdown Wizards. Do not close the book on Cam Whitmore. The main takeaway from today’s episode. Let you know, let us know what you guys think of all the news that has transpired in the past 24 hours regarding Cam Whitmore. How do you think the Wizards will respond to it? How do you think Cam Whitmore will respond to it? Let us know. We thank you. for making Lockdown Wizards your first listen every single day. For your second, check out the Locked in NBA fantasy basketball podcast hosted by Josh Lloyd. The best there is. He’ll make sure your lineup can beat one of your buddies. All right, that does it for us today, DC family. Talk to you tomorrow.

On today’s Locked On Wizards, Ben Strober and Abdullah Ayubi dive deep into the swirling rumors about Cam Whitmore’s practice habits and what they really mean for his future with the Washington Wizards. The hosts unpack new reporting, respond to the online reaction, and share insights about the team’s long-term vision. Drawing from expert sources and their own coverage, they discuss why Whitmore’s temporary benching is more about culture and accountability than any final verdict on his talent. Plus, they touch on the importance of professionalism, how young players develop, and what to expect from Whitmore and the Wiz from now on. The episode also checks in on injuries, upcoming practice intensity, and shares some lighter moments on NBA etiquette.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 – Opening Thoughts on Cam Whitmore Rumors

Ben Strober
addresses recent speculation about Cam Whitmore’s practice habits and warns not to give up on the young wing.

00:01:40 – Breaking Down RG Media’s Report

The hosts discuss the latest article on Cam’s benching, clarify misconceptions about “showing up” to practice, and connect the dots on accountability.

00:05:34 – Draft Concerns & Whitmore’s Upside

Abdullah Ayubi
reflects on Cam’s draft narrative, the character questions, and why the Wizards still need him despite recent setbacks.

00:10:00 – Organizational Equity & Development Philosophy

The team unpacks reporting on how front offices monitor professionalism and why Whitmore is in a crucial teaching moment for long-term growth.

00:14:26 – Practice Standards and Setting the Culture

Ben Strober and Abdullah Youbi
analyze how the Wizards’ current regime enforces internal standards, especially for young players, and why this matters for building a contender.

00:24:02 – Injury Updates

Looking ahead to the next game, the hosts check in on the status of other young Wizards, what to expect at practice, and what improvement could look like against Cleveland.

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