A social media post of Russell Westbrook air-balling a free throw during the Los Angeles Lakers preseason scrimmage against the Phoenix Suns has seen fans leap to the guard’s defense.
Westbrook ended the evening with 12 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists as Los Angeles lost 119-115 after taking the game to overtime. With this, the new-look side has lost two consecutive skirmishes.
An Instagram post saw Westbrook missing a free throw completely as the ball just grazed the net. The clip was captioned:
“Russell Westbrook air balled a free throw in the preseason. Russ opened the game with 11 PTS in the first, though!”
Lakers fans weren’t happy about how one player was pulled up despite what has been a decent run for the former MVP so far in the two games even if it’s just the preseason. The comments sections had fans defending Westbrook. Here’s a look at some of the fans coming to his rescue:
“hating for no reason.”
“’all post the smallest Laker L’s any chance y’all get”
“You post this but not him hitting back to back. 3s you one of those guys yikes.”
“Oh so a lot of players make air balls part of basketball.”
“hate post as always.”
“So why post this, post his highlight too”
“You gotta stop with the Russ hate it’s getting annoying and ridiculous”
“he’s literally doing really good….yall some haters posting his one lowlight.”
“People only post the worst in others, sad to see”
“Better form now than some of his made shots in the past.”
“Post the 4 point play right AFTER that”
“He’ll be alright come regular season ..70+ from the line”
“Bruh I’m bout to unfollow, the slander against Westbrook needs to stop.”
“this is corny… he’s going off and this is the first post u make bout him lmao. don’t turn in to a content baiting page mike, u always stood out for your informative posts.”
On the game front, Westbrook was seen to be playing with renewed energy that was a sore miss last season. While the scoreline against the Sacramento Kings (5 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists) hardly does justice to what he showcased on the hardwood, there was an improved outing against the Suns.
Draymond Green Shuts Down The Chatter Around Russell Westbrook: That Man Is A Laker.”
Much of the offseason chatter around the Los Angeles Lakers was all about Russell Westbrook and his future with the franchise. His first stint with the side wasn’t a memorable one as the outfit failed to make the postseason. On his part, the 33-year-old ended his run with 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists suiting up in 78 games.
Earlier, Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green called for the noise around Westbrook to stop. Speaking on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, he said:
“Stop all the Russell Westbrook talk. That man is a Laker. They trying to make it work, and it can work. When you are as great of players as those guys have, it can work, and then adding Patrick Beverley to the floor, you’re just going to win more games, that’s been proven.
Even new coach Darvin Ham was all praise and support for Westbrook after the team’s loss to the Kings and echoed Green’s sentiments.
“I’m the coach. We talk about Laker business, more specifically the business of basketball that we have together in terms of how we’re going to play, how he’s going to be effective in the system. Any outside noise? We don’t pay attention to it. It’s pretty difficult when you have smart phones and all that now these days but at the end of the day, since I got the job, he’s been nothing but supportive.
The Lakers have two more preseason games, one against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the other against defending champs, the Warriors. Despite the support, there will be no doubt that all eyes will be on Westbrook again as he gears up for the two clashes and the regular season after.
