If you ask most Lakers fans, they will tell you that Russell Westbrook is the most to blame for the current state of the Lakers. Throwing aside Rob Pelinka’s role in constructing the roster, the fans mostly point to Westbrook as the one who ultimately doomed this Lakers season.
But even after a sour showing in his first three games, Russ does have some supporters, and they have been coming out of the woodworks in force recently.
Nick Young Makes Case For Russell Westbrook In Controversial Tweet
Just a few hours ago, former Lakers swingman Nick Young stood up for Westbrook and explained why it’s not his fault that this season has gotten off on the wrong foot.
Put Russ on the 2019-2020 and 20-21 yrs the lakers win back to back if Ad dnt get hurt .. you can’t blame Russ when your starting lineup is Pat blv,walker , Russ, bron and Ad.. if im the other team im letting everybody shoot im leaving the whole team open …
Put Russ on the 2019-2020 and 20-21 yrs the lakers win back to back if Ad dnt get hurt .. you can’t blame Russ when your starting lineup is Pat blv,walker , Russ, bron and Ad.. if im the other team im letting everybody shoot im leaving the whole team open …
— Nick Young (@NickSwagyPYoung) October 25, 2022
While Westbrook has not been a great fit with the Lakers, he is far from their only problem. This summer, the Lakers traded their veterans for young and athletic guards, but somehow forgot to add one of the most important roles of any team: shooters.
Without proper shooting, the Lakers really have no chance of competing against teams like the Warriors and Bucks, who look to be among the best teams in the league again.
Speaking on his podcast this week, Shaquille O’Neal expressed L.A.’s need for shooters and called them ‘gated community gangsters’ for their lack of long-distance snipers.
“They are like a community where I live, they have no shooters,” Shaq said. “They are like Gated Community Gangsters. They ain’t go no shooters. They have no shooters. I could leave my door open, I could walk around in my underwear. When they get outside the gates they talk hard but inside the gate? They ain’t got no shooters.”
With LeBron James and Anthony Davis, it’s impossible to count the Lakers out completely. But without the personnel to hit shots and properly spread the floor, the Purple and Gold are going to have a tough time keeping up with the competition.
So while Westbrook may be the most glaring flaw in L.A.’s system, they weren’t set up to succeed anyway, whether he was on the team or not.
