The Los Angeles Lakers have the appearance of a team that is falling apart, and it’s large in part due to former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook’s ill-fit with the roster. Despite having LeBron James in the fold, the situation has become tumultuous.
Right now, the Lakers rank ninth in the Western Conference standings with a 27-35 record with the New Orleans Pelicans being within just a half-game. There isn’t much of a threat to them falling out of the play-in bracket altogether, but regardless, finishing that low is still inexcusable.
According to veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein, there’s been “no shortage of defiance behind the scenes” from Westbrook when coaches and teammates have brought up a potential role change to Westbrook.
“Jousting with reporters in press conferences is apparently not the lone source of pushback these days from under-fire guard Russell Westbrook. There has been no shortage of defiance behind the scenes, I’m told, when coaches and teammates have tried to broach changes in role or approach with the former MVP,” Stein wrote.
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“For all the obvious complexities involved in trying to move Westbrook when he’s owed a whopping $47 million next season at age 34, one league source described the idea of bringing him back next season as “impossible” based on current tension levels. The question then becomes: If the Lakers can’t construct a palatable trade, do they try to just buy Westbrook out? Or waive and stretch him?”
At this point, it’s beyond clear that Westbrook does not have interest in even slightly adjusting his game to fit alongside some of the NBA’s top stars when playing alongside them. He is not a winning basketball player in 2022 given he is too past his prime to lead a team as he did with the Oklahoma City Thunder years ago.
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The best course of action for the Los Angeles Lakers appears to be to simply find a way to move on from Russell Westbrook and to do by any means necessary. The team doesn’t have time to waste to win another championship in the LeBron James era.
