Russell Westbrook has been deemed the Los Angeles Lakers’ biggest problem this season following his underwhelming performances for the Purple and Gold for the first three months of competition. The talented point guard is struggling to find his touch with the team, which has created some issues for him so far.
During the Lakers’ latest outing against the Indiana Pacers, head coach Frank Vogel benched Westbrook in the last minutes of the game, stating he tried to keep the best players to win the game on the court, which was a dig at Westbrook.
The player left the arena after that moment and didn’t address the media, showing he wasn’t happy with the decision at all. Brodie broke his silence and spoke to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, claiming he knows that things don’t go right sometimes, but he’s willing to make the sacrifices that’ll take the Lakers to the top.
“Ultimately, you have to be OK when s— doesn’t go well, and I’m OK,” Westbrook told ESPN. “I’ve done everything that’s been asked of me here, and I’ll continue to do so and ride this out as long as we can toward our ultimate goal — and that’s to win a championship.
“We obviously haven’t been fully healthy, but I’m committed to making this thing work. The communication is there with everybody in the organization to make this thing work, to make this team we all want it to be in the future.
“I have accepted everything that has been asked of me and tried to do it to the best of my ability. I’m not the ultimate decision-maker of if it’s working — or if it’s not working. I’m OK with sacrificing some of the things that I’ve been able to do in this game to win, because that’s the most important part of this game. I’ve done everything they’ve asked me to do to this point.”
The future looks complex for the Lakers, and it seems like Westbrook is being thrown under the bus for the team’s poor performances. They need to make changes before it’s too late. Right now, they rank 8th in the Western Conference and the team is expected to make several moves ahead of the trade deadline. Westbrook has been mentioned in trade rumors, but nothing is certain right now.
If this situation continues, we’ll probably won’t see Westbrook taking the court as often as he’s done so far.
