The Los Angeles Lakers have a lot of critics waiting for them to crash and burn this NBA season. One of the biggest naysayers and non-believers is FS1’s, Skip Bayless.
Bayless is known for saying some outrageous things to bring viewers to his show, UNDISPUTED, in which he has debates with Shannon Sharpe. He relentlessly picks on LeBron James, but now he has a new target in Russell Westbrook.
Following the Los Angeles Lakers collapse against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the second one in about a week’s span, Bayless went off on Westbrook, who he notoriously refers to as ‘Russell Westbrick’, on the show this morning.
Bayless believes that it is Westbrook who is killing the Lakers, as he has been unable to help carry the team to a victory over the Thunder without James. James missed both matchups against Oklahoma City and those are the only two victories that the Thunder have this season, as they are 0-6 against everyone else.
The stats look good, as Westbrook scored 27 points with six rebounds and five assists, but he turned the ball over four times. One was extremely costly near the end of the game as the Lakers were attempting to get the lead back.
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Davis had a good game as well, scoring 29 points with 18 rebounds, five assists, one steal, and two blocks. Off the bench, Carmelo Anthony stayed scorching hot, knocking down five 3-pointers en route to 21 points with six rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Leading by as many as 19 points makes this an inexcusable loss for the Lakers, one they deserve to receive some criticism for. It is still early on in the season, but if these are games the team cannot lock down against weaker teams in the NBA, how are they going to fare when trying to win against the upper echelon teams?
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Getting James healthy would certainly help, as the team is 4-2 in games he has suited up for this season. Finding success without him on the court is a big reason why Westbrook was acquired and thus far, the team’s performance without him on the court has been inconsistent once again.