The Lakers are 2-7 on the season so far, a start that many fans and experts saw coming weeks before opening night.
What they didn’t see coming, however, was the resurgence of Russell Westbrook, who has done a complete 180 since agreeing to come off the bench for L.A.
Russ has been great so far, putting up 15.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game in some impactful minutes on the floor.
Still, that doesn’t mean Russ has been perfect. This season, just like last, he has shown resistance to making adjustments and holding himself accountable. On Sunday evening, in a chat with reporters, he made a comment that baffled many Lakers fans.
“I don’t know whose primary job is it to do that if I’m being honest,” said Russell Westbrook on distributing the ball offensively. “I will leave it up to the coaches to figure out the best way to utilize everyone. When I’m in, I do the best job I can and making the right reads and try to make the game easy for them when I’m in.”
Anthony Davis only scored 2 points in the second half, leading many to question why he wasn’t being given more opportunities to score. Whatever the case, despite being the star point guard, Russ isn’t taking responsibility for who gets (or doesn’t get) the ball on offense.
LeBron James Is Looking For Answers Amid Early Season Struggles
As the Lakers continue to struggle, LeBron James is doing his best to lead his squad and salvage this season from the grip of death. While he may have no answers for how they can improve on the floor, James isn’t letting the early losses get to his head — at least not yet.
“Every year is its own challenge,” James said. “I know what I can lean on, but I’m one guy. I can control what I can control and what I can’t control, I can’t worry about. You prepare yourself mentally and physically and spiritually every night to go out for battle and you give your guys energy on the floor. You talk them through things and mistakes, good things, bad things, whatever the case may be to help them through the course… But every year is its own challenge. I know for me, I can lean on things that I’ve experienced… but it’d be the same as me trying to explain to my kids what it’s like to grow up the way I grew up. They gonna look at me like ‘get the hell out my face, dad! We got a nanny, a chef, a gated community, private school…’ You can’t. It’s just different.”
For now, all the Lakers can do is experiment with different rotations/gameplans, but that’s only going to get them so far. Without the proper personnel to support what they are trying to do on the floor, the Lakers will never succeed at the highest level.
This season, unless they make some serious changes, the Purple and Gold are doomed to finish below expectations.
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