The Los Angeles Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook with the hope that their newly formed Big 3 would be able to take them to the next level and help them reclaim the NBA title they won in 2020. Needless to say, with the Lakers sitting in the 11th seed spot in the Western Conference, this hasn’t quite worked out for them, with fans even calling them the worst superteam ever.
Anthony Davis has been injured and missed almost half the season, while Russell Westbrook has been a poor fit on the roster, suffering a massive decline in production this season. And while LeBron James has been on a tear, the three have barely been able to feature in games together, playing in just about 20 of the 82 regular-season games for LA.
After their latest loss to the Denver Nuggets, Anthony Davis spoke about the team falling short of expectations this season, pointing out the fact that they have barely had any time on the court together.
“It's been tough not being able to fully reach our potential as far as us three being on the floor and seeing what we can really be." @AntDavis23 on the most frustrating part of the season. pic.twitter.com/icDP45WLMu
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 4, 2022
“We never did all year. I think us three, being me, Bron and Russ, played 15 or 21 games together. We didn’t expect us to have only 21 games together. It’s been that kind of year, either I’m in or he’s in and the times that we do play together, we look really good…
“It’s been tough, not being able to fully reach our potential as far as us three being on the floor, seeing what we could be but with that being said, we also have enough to win basketball games… We’ll continue to fight this way and give ourselves a chance and we’ll see what happens.”
Making it to the play-in is starting to look like a very tall order for the Lakers, and with just 4 games remaining, it’s hard to see how they will make up the deficit between them and the San Antonio Spurs. Considering Westbrook’s relationship with the fans and the media in LA though, this Big 3 might not get a chance to prove themselves at all going forward.
