The Los Angeles Lakers captured a win on Sunday, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves in a narrow battle at the end. Under normal circumstances, it would be cause for celebration for Lakers fans.
But this time, the outcome was not enough to protect the team from slander on Twitter.
As fans were quick to point out, the Timberwolves were playing without their two best players in D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns, leaving a depleted and shorthanded roster available for the game.
The Lakers had a tough time putting them down, and Westbrook’s shockingly inefficient performance (17 points on 43% shooting with 9 turnovers) was the target of blame once again.
this shit not even funny anymore pic.twitter.com/4guHgd5Kpd
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) January 3, 2022
https://twitter.com/Rdothobson/status/1477863971894054913https://twitter.com/JonathanDesign/status/1477863739940642819
Westbrook pass the damn ball bro‼️ https://t.co/mENCrlDofy
— Trey Dasean Williams (@SlamDunk3131) January 3, 2022
https://twitter.com/LilKobe91/status/1477861298050252800https://twitter.com/ariesmafiaa/status/1477861221068124162https://twitter.com/ajbergonia_/status/1477861195403063299https://twitter.com/DoZay1/status/1477864839405981696https://twitter.com/TwoWayRatio/status/1477865049842716678https://twitter.com/GotEmCoach__/status/1477867415564435458
As the flawed star in his first year with the team, it’s impossible to deny that Westbrook makes the perfect scapegoat. Everywhere he went has led to some questionable results, and now the Lakers are struggling much in the same way the Wizards and Rockets did.
But Russ is not the problem with the Lakers. While his fit may not be the most ideal, the issues do not lie squarely on him.
To his credit, he has gone in there and played exactly like he always has, and he doesn’t have to apologize to anyone for that.
“Everybody wants me to do this but then they don’t want me to do this,” Westbrook said on a video conference call with reporters Monday. “Honestly, I’m over the whole situation with what everyone else wants me to do and what they think I should be doing.”
“Honestly, I think I’ve been fine,” Westbrook said. “The conversation has been heavily on how I’m playing and what I’m doing, but I think people are expecting me to have f—ing 25, 15 and 15, which, that is not normal. Everybody has to understand, like, that’s not a normal thing that people do consistently.”
“People are saying ‘let Russ be Russ,’ I think nobody understands what that means. I think people just say it — ‘let Russ be Russ’ — but nobody actually knows what that means but myself. And I’m gonna lean on that and make sure I do what I’m supposed to do. And let everything else outside the locker room, whatever that may be, take care of itself.”
The Lakers are back to .500 after the win, perhaps signaling better days ahead for the illustrious franchise.
Whatever the case, you can bet Lakers fans will be right there the whole time, critiquing and criticizing their guys every chance they get. Russell Westbrook, unfortunately, will probably continue being at the center of the spotlight.
But at this point, everybody knows that sort of thing comes with the territory of wearing the Purple and Gold.
