Russell Westbrook has been on the receiving end of criticism for a while now, and every day, this situation gets worse for the former NBA MVP. His tenure on the Los Angeles Lakers has been anything but good, as he’s constantly criticized for his performances, bad decisions, and the fact that he can’t shoot the ball to save his life.
This season hasn’t been any different for Westbrook, and after a decent outing against the Golden State Warriors in the season opener, the point guard has been unable to find his pace, struggling against the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers, making terrible decisions at important moments.
Following a terrible weekend, Russ is the talk of the town around the NBA once again, and even the people who care about him can’t keep defending his level and have asked Russ to do better if he wants to extend his NBA career.
Kendrick Perkins Has Big Prediction For Russell Westbrook
Former Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins talked about this situation on Monday’s edition of ESPN’s First Take. The former NBA champion sent a big message to Westbrook, first saying that the Lakers don’t have any more options and should send the player back home.
“This is the hard part about doing my job, when I come up here, and actually do my job. Russell Westbrook, the love I have for him, for his momma Westbrook, OG Westbrook, his brother Ray, Nina [Russell’s wife], his family. But damn it, I got a job to do, and here is the thing: is Russ’ game declining? Hell yeah. Has it declined? Yes. Should have Rob Pelinka traded Russ this offseason? Hell yeah. Ok, so let’s talk about the now. What are you gonna do now? We watched the game [against the Blazers], we watched Russ’ body language… The fact is that Russ’ behavior is coming cancerous to the team, and we heard Darvin Ham talk about it. You know what Darvin Ham said about people in their feelings because when Russell Westbrook was on the bench, he was mooping, he was complaining, he was saying little things under his breath. Now, what do you do? You send him home. You send him home until you find that somebody is going to trade for him, because right now you can’t continue to bring him into that locker room because his attitude is going to wave off.”
Perkins added that if he doesn’t change something different on the Lakers or wherever he goes next, nobody will try to offer him a new deal, and Russ could be out of the league when he can still be helpful for a lot of teams.
“Russell Westbrook does not change. I love the brother to death, but his attitude– he is who he is; he thinks he’s the alpha male and he has to be that somewhere else. This is the sad part about it, right now, there’s no GM in the league who’s willing to take a chance and bring him into the locker room… This is the point of his career where he should be trying to show the world that he can be the missing link, but I’m telling you right now. Russell Westbrook, if he don’t be careful, he will find himself out of the league come next year.”
Westbrook and the Lakers have to find a solution to this situation, or things will get a lot worse for them. Many thought that Darvin Ham’s arrival would help Brodie, but so far, nothing has happened. In fact, we’re seeing the first signals of a possible rift between the player and the head coach.
The Lakers know that the longer they wait to make a move, the worse the situation will get. Perhaps sending Russ home is the first step to making everything better, but it remains to be seen if they’re brave enough to make that decision.
