Even after the final buzzer sounded, Russell Westbrook never stopped fighting to protect his image.
During his exit interviews yesterday, the 9x All-Star made his final case to the basketball world, letting all his thoughts and emotions air out as he accused the team of not letting “Russ be Russ.” He even called out Frank Vogel, accusing him of holding some kind of personal grudge.
No matter how you feel about the media session, it was enough to bring out some strong emotions from Shannon Sharpe, who let loose on Westbrook in the following morning’s ‘Undisputed.’
“Skip, in your 40 years, have you ever seen a more delusional athlete in your life than Russell Westbrook? Now, Skip, he’s talking about the ‘famous sources.’ I thought you said that stuff didn’t bother you? You talking about ‘I got home, I got a beautiful wife,’ ‘I got three beautiful kids’ and you do. You said none of that stuff bothered you. The fans didn’t bother you. Now, all of a sudden, you use that as an excuse. So it either bothers you or it doesn’t, which is it? Were you lying then or are you lying now?
He said he had no expectations coming into the season. He says for the simple fact that last year he averaged a triple-double and this year he didn’t, he would say that was unsuccessful. He didn’t mention anything about winning. Last year, Russ, you didn’t make the playoffs… when are they gonna say Russ plays winning basketball? When are they gonna say Russ plays smart basketball? Stop talking about ‘he plays hard.’… You’ve been on 4 teams in 4 years, that’s that ‘Russ being Russ’ has got you. 4 teams in 4 years and you don’t see anything that you could do differently that could alleviate the situation? Therein lies the problem: No personal accountability. Who’s shooting that ball, was it Vogel, the media or the fans? Who’s turning that ball over? Who’s air-balling those shots? Accept some accountability for your horrible play for the lion’s share of this year.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42oB3RWEgBQ
This is the reality for Westbrook now, who has alienated the team, the fans, and the media after a turbulent and abysmal season. Trying to avoid blame and criticism, Russ has pointed the finger in all different kinds of directions — and everywhere but himself.
Shannon Sharpe, and many others in the NBA community, have no problem calling it out. But where does he go from here?
Assuming the Lakers keep him, some serious self-reflection will be required from everyone involved to turn the team around. Westbrook, for all his talent, will have to adjust and sacrifice more than he ever has before.
If not, it could make next season a duplicate of the nightmarish 2021-22 campaign.
