Russell Westbrook has had a very tough time in Los Angeles. On paper, the idea of playing in his hometown for the Los Angeles Lakers would have seemed great. But since coming here, Westbrook has experienced first-hand how visceral and intense the criticism can be under the Lakers spotlight.
But it’s not just Russ who has been affected by it. Russell Westbrook spoke after the Los Angeles Lakers loss to the San Antonio Spurs about the constant criticism he has been facing. Westbrook noted that his family no longer want to come to watch him play, even at home games, worrying about what they’ll hear said about their father by fans in attendance (1:08 onwards).
Russell Westbrook continues to explain what he and his family have gone through regarding criticism in his first year with the Lakers: pic.twitter.com/YH629V3IRG
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) March 8, 2022
“Once it starts to affect my family and my wife… Even today, my mom said something about it today. It affects them even going to games. I don’t even want to bring my kids to the game because I don’t want them to hear people calling their dad nicknames and all these names for no reason, because he’s playing the game that he loves. It’s gotten so bad where my family don’t even want to go to home games, to any game because of, not just the media across the globe using platforms to constantly shame me. It’s just super unfortunate, super upsetting to me and I’m at a point where I’m going to continue to address it. It’s just unfortunate.”
Russell Westbrook is not wrong in calling out this behavior in fans and media members. Russ never objected to criticism about his play. But when his family begins to receive death threats, as Nina Westbrook recently revealed, it does become difficult to keep letting it slide.
Westbrook also spoke about his wife Nina calling out Skip Bayless recently. He noted that his wife and his family have struggled with the kind of criticism he has been subjected to. So much so, that he will no longer allow anyone to call him ‘Westbrick’ as it is an insult to him and his family’s name.
