The 2021-22 NBA season was one to forget for Russell Westbrook. His dream move to the Los Angeles Lakers turned into a horrible nightmare as he struggled to fit in, and the team crashed to a 33-49 record. Westbrook did not perform at the level that we have been accustomed to seeing from him, and he got a lot of blame from the media as well as fans for the team’s struggles.
One of Westbrook’s most vocal critics over the last year has been Skip Bayless, who has repeatedly taken shots at him. He claimed earlier this month that new arrival Patrick Beverley is more valuable to the Lakers than Westbrook, and he went a step further on Tuesday.
Skip Bayless Takes Another Shot At Russell Westbrook
The Lakers had just signed Dennis Schroder to a veteran’s minimum deal last week, which was the topic of discussion on Undisputed. While talking about Schroder’s return along with the team trading for Patrick Beverley, Bayless claimed that both of them are better players than Westbrook.
(starts at 3:43 mark):
“His (Dennis Schroder’s) free agent market has so dried up that he crawled all the way back to LA and took minimum to play for the Lakers. So that’s that guy’s position right now and the other guy they just signed, Patrick Beverley, is on his fourth team in two years. And yet here’s the painful and sad irony of this. Right now as is, those two players individually, they are better than Russell Westbrook. I promise you they are better basketball players right here right now than Russell Westbrook.”
While one can argue about Beverley’s defense perhaps making him more valuable than Westbrook to the Lakers, he isn’t a better player than Russ, while Schroder definitely isn’t a better player than him by any means. The biggest criticism of Westbrook is that he is a poor shooter who also tends to turn the ball over a lot, and we can say the same about Schroder as well.
The Westbrook slander has really gotten out of control this offseason, and he will get a shot at redemption next season, as it seems likely at this point that he will stay with the Lakers. Reports also indicate that he will be the starting point guard for the team, but there is plenty of competition in that Lakers backcourt right now, so he will have to be on his toes.
