Ever since leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder, the career of Russell Westbrook has spiraled downwards. The former NBA MVP is arguably out of his prime and has struggled to even play at an acceptable level in the league. Moreover, it seems like his game has further worsened since he joined the Los Angeles Lakers.
In the offseason, the Lakers traded for Westbrook to bolster the team, essentially giving birth to a superteam. After all, the franchise paired him up with the dynamic duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. On paper, the trio looked scary and if it had worked out well, it could have been close to unstoppable for opposing teams.
In reality, LeBron is the only player who is playing like he is supposed to. James is making a case for himself to win the regular-season MVP on the basis of his strong performances. On the other hand, Anthony Davis has been sidelined due to an injury, but even before getting injured, AD was not playing that well.
Lastly, Russ has been highly inconsistent and this has become more obvious than ever over the last few games that Westbrook has been part of. He has been simply awful from the field and that has been one of the primary reasons for the Lakers losing 2 out of their last 3 games.
In fact, in their recent defeat against the Sacramento Kings, the franchise even made fun of Brodie by playing ‘Cold As Ice’ when Russ missed a shot. Westbrook took offense to it and gave them a befitting reply. On that note, OKC beat writer Brandon Rahbar made sure that everyone remembers that ever since Russ’ debut he has been literally better than the entire Kings franchise.
“Since Russell Westbrook entered the league in 2008: Playoff appearances Russ: 11 Sacramento Kings: 0 All-Star selections Russ: 9 Sacramento Kings: 3 Western Conference Finals Russ: 4 Sacramento Kings: 0 NBA Finals Russ: 1 Sacramento Kings: 0 MVPs Russ: 1 Sacramento Kings: 0.”
Since Russell Westbrook entered the league in 2008:
Playoff appearances
Russ: 11
Sacramento Kings: 0
All Star selections
Russ: 9
Sacramento Kings: 3
Western Conference Finals
Russ: 4
Sacramento Kings: 0
NBA Finals
Russ: 1
Sacramento Kings: 0
MVPs
Russ: 1
Sacramento Kings: 0 https://t.co/71nNnGGPNY
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) January 13, 2022
In all the categories that Rahbar used in his tweet, Russ outplayed the Kings, and that too by a considerable margin. So it makes sense that making fun of Russ was certainly not a smart move by the Kings.
It still doesn’t change the fact that Westbrook has been struggling to play at a good level so far this season. Unless he changes that, it will be very hard for the Lakers to make a deep playoff run.
