Russell Westbrook Fights Back Against Critics
Russell Westbrook's two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers ended in disappointment.
The Lakers' experiment with Westbrook began with championship expectations but gave way to lineup changes and constant scrutiny.
Patrick Beverley, Westbrook's ex-teammate, explained on Fred VanVleet's Unguarded podcast that the public never saw the biggest reason it all fell apart.
Beverley said the only person taking the punches was Westbrook, while the superstars couldn't sacrifice for the team's best interest.
Westbrook arrived in Los Angeles as part of a plan to ease LeBron James' playmaking burden and create a faster offense.
Injuries made matters worse, with James, Davis, and Westbrook appearing together in just 39 games across two seasons, finishing 19-20 as a trio.
Westbrook later admitted the period took a significant emotional toll, saying he was in a better place after being traded to the Clippers in 2023.
The criticism grew louder, with fans mocking him with the nickname "Westbrick," and Westbrook admitted he no longer wanted his children hearing the chants inside Crypto.com Arena.
On March 2022, Westbrook said he didn't want to bring his kids to the game because he didn't want them to hear their dad getting called names.
Westbrook had heated in-game disagreements with assistant coach Phil Handy and later with Darvin Ham, and trade speculation never really stopped.
The Lakers repeatedly explored deals involving Westbrook, including multiple pursuits of Kyrie Irving.
Beverley's perspective carries extra weight because he wasn't always one of Westbrook's biggest supporters, but by the time they became Lakers teammates, they had rebuilt their relationship.
Beverley would later describe Westbrook as a "lifetime brother," and his account highlights the irony that Westbrook arrived in Los Angeles as part of a plan everyone believed in.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis personally recruited Westbrook in the summer of 2021, while general manager Rob Pelinka said the Lakers wanted to "dimensionalize the roster with a combination of versatility," but the experiment quickly exposed spacing issues and a roster that never quite fit together.
The vision was to create a faster offense, but injuries and lineup changes made it difficult to achieve, and Westbrook was left to take the punches from critics and fans alike.
As the losses mounted, frustration shifted toward Westbrook, and he became the scapegoat for the team's struggles.
But Beverley's account suggests that Westbrook was not the only problem, and that the team's superstars needed to sacrifice for the team's best interest.
Westbrook's time with the Lakers may be over, but his legacy and impact on the team will be remembered for years to come.
The Lakers' experiment with Westbrook may have failed, but it will serve as a lesson for the team and the NBA as a whole.
Westbrook's story is a reminder that even the best players can struggle, and that teamwork and sacrifice are essential for success in the NBA.