A healthy duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis is enough for any opposing team to give nightmares on both ends of the floor. The superstar duo proved it during the 2019-20 NBA season when they led the Los Angeles Lakers to an NBA Championship.
Theoretically, when you add a player like Russell Westbrook to that roster, it should make things easier for the team and help them win another title. But in reality, that experiment failed miserably for the Purple and Gold.
So much so that they even failed to qualify for the playoffs for the 2021-22 NBA season. Since the season concluded, Westbrook has had a target on his back and has received a lot of hate from fans and analysts alike.
He is still part of the trade rumors that could bring Kyrie Irving to the Lakers. But that’s nothing new. Former NBA player Stephon Marbury decided to provide a new outlook on the delicate situation with Russ and the Lakers.
He believes that instead of putting all the blame on Westbrook, the superstar duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis should also receive criticism for not making the required adjustments to make Brodie feel welcomed to the team.
“Who’s gonna make the adjustment? The best player is supposed to make the adjustments. You gotta allow Russell to be able to do what he does if you’re saying that you want him to come here because you watched him play, you’ve seen him play, you’ve played against him.
LeBron and Davis, them guys know what Russell Westbrook was before he got here. You can’t be that smart of a basketball player and not know who you’re getting, who you’re going to be playing with. Who’s making the adjustment? It can’t be blamed on Russell Westbrook.”
Marbury isn’t the only person who came in Russ’ defense in recent days. NBA legend and analyst Charles Barkley also believes Westbrook has been used as a scapegoat to justify the Lakers’ shortcomings.
AD and James might deserve to share the blame as well. However, as things stand right now, the franchise has already made its choice. And the choice is that they want to get rid of Russell Westbrook’s contract as soon as possible.
