there are many ways to prove it Russell WestbrookHis first season with the Los Angeles Lakers was a disaster, but on Tuesday Jeannie Buss delivered yet another season.
of Interview with Sam Amick of The Athleticthe Lakers’ ruling owner made a rather bizarre claim about Westbrook’s first year in Los Angeles. He said.
From Athletic:
“All I can say is, from my point of view,[Westbrook]was the best player last year. He played and played and worked hard in almost every game.” It would have looked like this: It’s really hard to win when Anthony Davis isn’t on the court.LeBron was injured for much of the season.But Russ showed up every game, I played hard every night and, as you know, I really appreciate who he is and what he brings to the team.”
Politely speaking, Lakers fans would disagree with that statement.
Westbrook was the biggest lightning rod in a stormy season for the Lakers, acquired in hopes of providing a third star alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but ended up being a terrible game for the team’s roster. Westbrook’s established flaws—historically terrible 3-point shooting, ugly turnovers, so-so defense—because James often let the ball out of his hands when he was playing. became even more prominent. A clear feud with the fired Frank Vogel didn’t help.
The season was so bad that Bass’ comments were legitimately confusing, and I reached out to Bass after the interview to confirm she meant what she said.
Yes, as you can imagine, I did a double take when Jeannie shared her view that Westbrook was the best the Lakers had to offer last season. So, you included, his debut season with the Lakers was an unmitigated disaster.
After the interview ended, when I realized I hadn’t followed up quickly enough to fully understand this great take, I decided to send her a note asking if this was her actual belief. did.
“The word I should have used was ‘consistency,'” she wrote in a text message. “He appeared in 78 games last season.”
For better or worse, Buss is right. Westbrook was consistent.
Russell Westbrook was very consistent.Now the Lakers want him to change
Last season, the Lakers often played without James or Davis, but Westbrook was on the court and, apparently, defiantly himself in nearly every game. didn’t work.
Whether that holds true next season is up to the Lakers and ultimately Westbrook.
in the meantime Lakers considering Westbrook tradeno team jumped at the chance to get a point guard, His salary next season is $47 millionMeanwhile, James and Davis I met with Westbrook and promised to try to make it work.as you wish, while new Lakers head coach Durbin Hamm speaks Westbrook’s role change within the team When double the effort to defend.
It all sounds good, but awkwardly, Westbrook is 33 and has faced these criticisms for some time. Even when he’s changed teams three times in the last four years, Westbrook has held his own and stepping onto the wrong side of the 30 only gets steadily worse. Leadership may win, but Westbrook’s acceptance of a smaller role and becoming more efficient is akin to Charlie Brown getting ready to kick a football at this point.
Outside of Westbrook, the Lakers refreshed their roster with the addition of Patrick Beverly, Lonnie Walker IV, Damian Jones, Thomas Bryant, Juan Toscano Anderson and more. It’s a young group overall, at least, but we’ll see if it works well with Westbrook and a healthy Davis and James.
