Russell Westbrook is one of the greatest players of all time, and he was recently named to the All-Time NBA 75 list. He’s won an MVP award in 2017, and there’s no denying his greatness.
The Los Angeles Lakers have started off the season rough, losing to the Golden State Warriors in their season opener. Naturally, a lot of the attention was focused on Russell Westbrook, who didn’t have the best season opener.
Skip Bayless has recently claimed that Russell Westbrook’s best fit on the Los Angeles Lakers would be as a 6th man who can “change the flavour of the game” by bringing energy off the bench. That would certainly be a demotion for the former MVP if that were to occur, and most people would say that he is definitely a starter-level player and a star.
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It’s just a wrongheaded fit. It will not work and I feel sorry for everybody involved. So you gotta figure out what’s the best way to utilize him… He needs to be Manu Ginobili but he will not accept being 6th Man of the Year.
He could win 6th Man of the Year, if right here right now he said “I will lead the shock troops. I will come off the bench at the 6 minute mark of the first quarter, and I will still get my 30 minutes, but I will do it leading mostly the second team, and we will crush. We will come in and change the flavor of the game. We will go 1000 miles an hour, and the tempo will change, and we’ll go on runs that will have Staples on its feet.”
That’s who Russ could and should be at this stage of his career. To me, that’s the best fit.
While obviously having a highly talented player like Russell Westbrook as a 6th man could shore up the second unit, Bayless’ suggestion is certainly something that most people won’t agree with. Russell Westbrook averaged 22.2 PPG, 11.5 RPG and 11.7 APG last season with the Washington Wizards, and it’s clear that a player like that shouldn’t be coming off the bench.
Frank Vogel has previously stated that the team wants Russell Westbrook “to be aggressive”, and that suggests that they just want him to play his game. Hopefully, the Los Angeles Lakers figure things out soon, and it’s obvious that Russell Westbrook is a huge part of their plans.
