Former All-Star guard Russell Westbrook was hoping for a fresh start with the Los Angeles Clippers this season. But in a new report by The Athletic’s Sam Amick, all he got was more frustration after seeing his minutes and role reduced with the arrival of James Harden.
“The 35-year-old who lost his starting point guard job to Harden in mid-November,” wrote Amick, “who team and league sources say had to be convinced by Frank to take on the sixth-man role when the organization’s power brokers deemed it a requirement.”
As a former league MVP, 9x All-Star, and 2x scoring champion, Westbrook’s status as a Hall of Famer is not up for debate and he deserves the ultimate respect for all that he accomplished as the face of the Oklahoma City Thunder for many years.
But at 35 years old, Westbrook’s decline has been brutal and swift and it has put the Clippers in an awkward position. Coming from the Lakers, Russ was hoping to carve out a permanent place in the rotation and take over the starting point guard role for himself. Initially, when he first arrived, that’s exactly what Westbrook was doing and it was working pretty well until James Harden’s arrival changed everything.
After being demoted to the bench, Russ was strangely quiet about his situation and fans took it as a sign that he was finally ready to accept a backup point guard role this season. Instead, he apparently raised some problems within the franchise as he endured his worst stretch of basketball to date.
Now, with the Clippers eliminated in the first round (again) and Westbrook still being a toxic presence in the locker room, it seems both sides are re-evaluating their partnership. Depending on how things shake out this summer, Russ could be off the Clippers in a few months, and quite possibly out of the NBA entirely.
What’s Next For The Los Angeles Clippers?
Clippers governor Steve Ballmer has spared no expense to build one the deepest and most talented rosters in the league. With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, he acquired the backbones of a true contender and the team has surrounded them with various moving parts over the years.
This season, with perhaps their most stacked team yet, the Clippers were picked by many to make the NBA Finals and they believed they had a chance to beat anyone on any given night. Unfortunately, aside from a hot streak mid-way through the season, the Clippers never really showed the signs of a championship team and nobody knows where they go from here.
The biggest x-factor here is Kawhi Leonard, who missed the playoffs yet again due to an injury. At his best, Kawhi is easily one of the top five best players in the game but he just hasn’t been around enough to make it count for the Clippers.
Meanwhile, the situation with Paul George becomes more unpredictable by the day. Despite vocalizing his loyalty to the Clippers, there have been rumblings for days now that he has played his final game for the franchise. As a potential free agent this summer (a player option for the 2024-25 season), George is free to pick his own path and we already know several teams that will be competing for his services.
Whatever happens with Kawhi and PG will no doubt determine how the Clippers respond to their other star players, including Russell Westbrook. But if Russ can’t just learn to accept where he’s at in this stage of his career, then he may have trouble trying to make a return next season.
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