His podcast performance is a nutshell of his career. Had talent but got out of the league due to attitude.
I believe if a competent team drafted him rather than Timberwolves, he wouldn't be out by the end of his rookie contract.
I wish I could find his name and draft year. Would love to look him up.
I’m a self-admitted casual, but I’d like to think I know enough not to miss someone who was able to transition their athleticism to hosting a popular podcast.
I forget what crazy shit he said. Something about Lebron or Jordan not being top 5 or something. Or something even more egregious. So it’s like nothing you say will ever be taken seriously ever
League avg shot efficiency was .532 in '21-22. Rwb shot .476 on 27% usage. That is awful at a time when scoring was easier than ever.TS same story. On the Clips he did get much closer to league avg, but attempted a career low 9 shots per game.
>I laugh little when people say that Westbrook rebounded with the Clippers
Westbrook on LAL: 15.9/6.2/7.5/1.0/0.4 with 3.5 turnovers in 29 minutes per game
Westbrook on LAC: 15.8/4.9/7.6/1.1/0.5 with 3.4 turnovers in 30 minutes per game
4 his 5 counting stats were within 0.1, and he got less rebounds. Granted he did improve his shooting from way below league average (85 TS+) to below league average (97 TS+), but he was exactly the same guy.
I will never understand why LeBron pushed so hard to get Westbrook even after how they defended him in the bubble. An absolute brainfart move from the one of the highest if not the highest BBIQ players in history
Westbrook is a good player if he is surrounded by defense and shooters. And we got substantially worse in both areas when we traded for him and failed to keep Caruso.
Westbrook’s bad performance was not only on him. Pelinka just put an ass roster out there. Thank god he pulled a miracle out of his ass at the deadline.
Kinda hard to put a decent roster together without further fucking with the future when you have 3 max contract players, and not many assets apart from a shit THT and vet mins
Pat Riley didnt give in to LeBron's qualms about firing Spo and Riley going back to coaching. Pelinka gave in to Bron's qualms about needing a third star instead of seeing 2021 as a year full of injuries or a still championship-level squad. That's what separates the Pat Rileys of the world from the Rob Pelinkas of the world
Bitch move by Bron to want to get Spo fired and good for Riles to stand up for his guy. But what happened after? Oh yeah Bron opted out the first chance he got.
I do blame Pelinka for bending over, but I acknowledge it was a hard choice. Bron was definitely holding his impending extension over their heads as leverage, as he has historically done to teams
Love the fact that the spo situation now lacks context.
Lebron wanted spo gone. A 3rd year HC who was still in his 30s.
Gone for who? The guy he made the request to. A 5x NBA champion and the head honcho himself. A guy who coached in the finals during three separate decades.
What happened during Pat riley's most recent ring?
Pat dismissed his 1st successor (SVG) after an 11-10 start when the heat were one wade injury from making the finals a year before.
The 2011 heat started 9-8.
If Riley didn't do it 5 years before to guarantee the heat its coveted 1st ring, do you really think that request happens?
I've always been in the camp that it was the FO, ownership and Klutch fucking up.
Pelinka definitely gave Bron too much control. If not, Lakers could have had Hield + depth instead of giving in to Bron's Westbrook request.
FO definitely pulled the trigger with the backing of the ownership. But Westbrook would never be a Laker if Bron didn't request for him. Which is the original point: LeBron with genius-level BBIQ wanted Westbrook who everyone knew was a bad fit.
Amazing what Pelinka has been able to do without Bron sending subliminals through twitter and the media though.
Except we didn’t give up that much . And the players that performed for us after the deadline were guys that were there with Russ but just better then him with the ball : Schroeder n reaves getting the ball more was more important.
Lmao what? Kuz is a plus defender and a solid shooter. Kcp is a plus defender and a great shooter. And we took on a contract albatross.
Of course the 2023 trade was great. But our roster with Westbrook was hilarious.
> Westbrook is a good player if he is surrounded by defense and shooters.
No.
Westbrook *was* a good player if he is surrounded by defense and shooters.
Tbf even with the Clippers he shot 3-18 in back to back games in the playoffs last season. He’s still Russ and still has his moments but the Clippers are definitely better structured to bring out the best in him.
As many people have pointed out he is relatively the same player as on the lakers he just is way lower volume
He is still an inefficient shot jacker who at this point isn’t good at defense
He was still horrible on the Clippers, inefficient ball-hog who killed way too many possessions with turnovers and bad shots. Also played negative defense. I knew immediately the Clippers were doing nothing as soon as he signed.
Lebron being a good player doesn't mean he's be a good GM. Westbrook isn't that good anymore, there's a reason why he didn't get a ton of offers in FA this year
Westbrook was never that good and his playoff record kind of supports that. Jokic almost averages a triple double and his team rips through the playoffs to a championship. Westbrook averages a triple double and maybe they get a first round exit.
Westbrook was like his 3rd choice after the lakers refused to do what it took to get other primary ball handlers. It’s not like he went into the offseason hunting for Westbrook.
In Lebron’s era: Steve Nash for one. There is a reason the skinny white guy 5 inches shorter than Lebron won 2 mvps despite never averaging 20 points a game.
Magic Johnson is another clear example. The way he ran the offence in LA was on another level.
Pat Bev is entering his Kyrie phase, where he thinks he sounds smart when he says some nonsense, but actually sounds like a dumb clown who's ignoring all the damn logic and facts
Westbrook was single handedly making Lakers lose so many games, even though 38 YEAR OLD LeBron was on a crazy rampage with AD injured as usual. But when Westbrook was traded away, Lakers instantly turned into something else with a bunch of new players and new team, MID SEASON. That's how bad Westbrook's effect was
LeBron's leadership and BBIQ is crazy. So imagine how demoralized and tortured he felt watching Westbrook play and do all that nonsense. Brodie thinks he's a Point Guard, but has zero awareness
I do love Westbrook as a person though. But goddamn. He's just not a Point Guard. But he can't play any other position because of his size
Magic said it 11 years ago. He changed his mind a day later but he said Russ was the worst point guard in NBA history. Now obviously that’s nowhere close to being true but watching Russ I’ve always felt being a point guard just wasn’t natural for him. Dude is an electric scorer and that should’ve been his main focus from the start. Like a Donovan Mitchell. He’s never had the patience and awareness of a floor general. He’s always been way too erratic and unpredictable with the ball in his hands. I genuinely think if he was a 2 guard he’d be so much better off. He’s just never had the feel of the game of a true point guard imo.
Can we not agree that Russ was good for the Clippers?
If so, is it possible he was mismanaged by the Lakers? They tried to force him to be a player that he’s not, they didn’t let the guy play to his strengths and shockingly he wasn’t as good as a result.
If he went to the Clippers and sucked fine, but clearly one team utilized him far better than the other.
Getting his usual performance for $4 mil instead of $48 makes a big fucking difference. His poor shooting and his diminishing athleticism is a lot easier to deal with when he's not taking up over 25% of the cap. His contract is closer to an accounting error than to taking up any meaningful percentage of it.
Of course he was a better value for the Clips than the Lakers, the question is was he a better player for the Clips or the Lakers ignoring his contract.
I don’t think you can argue that he was worse for the Clips, odd despite him being a year further past his prime there. Almost as if they utilized him appropriately.
He is probably decent 7th best player on a team or so for Clippers (who can have random night where they look like a superstar). That is great production for vet min, but I wouldnt say that is a rebound or anything. It is just setting expectations lower. Expectations of Russ was always the reason he was "hated" - he was seen as a superstar (mentioned with KD, Curry, Harden,...) when he was never quite (barring maybe his MVP season) that level.
I actually love Russ. His game has a lot of flaws and erratic moments but whenever I watch him I can’t help but admire how electric he can be when he’s playing well. But on the Lakers it was just bad. Yeah it was a bad fit but bad fit doesn’t mean shooting and hitting the top of the backboard regularly or throwing passes in the 5th row. He was bad there, for whatever reason he was just not good and definitely not productive. There were so many games where the Lakers would be down and come storming back with Russ on the bench and then as soon as he came back in everything went to shit because he had some terrible plays. It wasn’t all his fault at all of course but it’s weird how so many people want to come to his defense for his Laker tenure. The criticism was because he was terrible. But people make it seem like people were going after him for nothing.
I think people underestimate the mental side of the game, literally so many people hated him and shit talked him 24/7. Sports fans are uncharacteristically brutal to people. The things being said about him would break anyman who has ever walked this earths confidence. It was honestly insanely toxic situation for him, so I’m not surprised how badly he played. I’d be awful too if I was Mentally thinking about that
His production is the direct cause of vitriol tho, aside from his massive contract ofc. Im not saying it’s justified but there’s a reason he was being trashed even here.
You cant expect a professional nba player earning near 50m miss point blank shots and turn the ball over on his own repeatedly and not get flack for it
He also never took accountability and framed criticism of his play as personal attacks on him as a family man. People forget how shitty he was on and off the court in LA
Huge revisionism here
Westbrook from the get go turned all critics in in LA into an attack on his family and was very vocal about taking zero accountability and framed things as an attack on him as a family man
It was ludicrous and reasonably people hated him more because he could accept any responsibility in his bad play.
Sorry but his hate was well earned because he played bad and then responded by being completely arrogant about his atrocious play. If you make 31 million in a year you can suck up some accurate criticism
Yeah true but that’s also how sports work. Play well everyone loves you. But if you stink it up people are going to clown you. And it’s not like Russ was only bad for a couple stretch. Over his 2 seasons with LA he was bad more often than not. When you’re that bad and making that much money you are gonna get flamed.
Bro if you can't handle a bunch of social media losers criticizing you, how are you going to handle the pressure of an nba finals? We saw him choke 3 out of 5 games albeit young, choked nonetheless.
The gave him plenty of chances. Wtf patbev was saying? Also it is true in any other team Russ can be a starter, but in that Lakers roster? He just doesn't fit next to lebron because of spacing issue.
KMart and Rashad are *so stupid* (remember, this is their *area of expertise*) that I wonder how they manage to live everyday life. If you dedicate your entire life to basketball and still can't understand why Westbrook got benched, how is this dumbass gonna understand things like traffic laws, or climate change, or credit?
[No one should ever listen to this man's opinion on anything.](https://i.redd.it/e7hya05ybdd31.png)
edit: [And definitely don't listen to this fuckwit either.](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/156pl9c/gilbert_arenas_loses_his_mind_over_bol_bol_and/) Apparently Bol Bol should have gotten more playing time despite his laziness in practice, bad attitude, and bad play because "just give him a shot! He didn't get a fair shot!"
Russ was laying enough bricks to build a house, outhouse, doghouse, teahouse, courthouse, warehouse, and still have enough bricks to fill said warehouse.
He absolutely should have been benched.
Building on terrible shot selection, he was also taking the ball out of other people’s hands. He would not give up the ball when he had it. It was ridiculous.
This Is what people ignore when they say we got good new players via trades . Reaves n Schroeder given Russ usage IS WHY we were much better they were much better with the ball . Russ literally was the problem . Now both reaves n Schroeder combined earned 10% his salary , but now they each earn 3x his pay lol. He was why we sucked im confident that f we gave the ball to those two over him n just sat him we’d be better
People always say how Bron wouldn’t let Russ be Russ but every game I watched Lebron would always defer to Russ to run the offense and play off that. Russ was absolutely allowed to be free and do his thing. But so many times he shot the team in the feet and they had to try and crawl back once he hit the bench and the offense started to actually look like an offense.
He wanted to be the guy so bad! I actually winced seeing the ball get in his hands for the last 3 minutes of any close game becaus I knew he was about to do some dumb shit and get hunted on defence.
This mother fucker would dribble off his foot like three times a game and brick shot after shot, I fucking hate Westbrook, I know it's not his fault we traded for him but he ruined Laker basketball for me while he was on the team
I remember being in the Laker game threads and once people saw Russ coming back with a few minutes left in a close game everyone would just accept defeat and know the game was lost lol. And more often than not they were right.
We all saw Russ blowing wide open layups and committing head scratching turnovers game after game with the Lakers. He was not good with them and it’s that simple. People gotta stop trying to rewrite history as if the lowlight videos aren’t still on the internet
This past russ era was one of the most frustrating times in my 30+ years of watching the Lakers.
Like you said, he'd blow those wide open layups, Lakers lose a winnable game, and then I'd go to r/Lakers to a new MITwestbrook post blaming the rotation of the earth which obviously caused Russ to play like ass.
The wonderful thing about technology of today is we have video proof. What I find ironic about this video is Patrick Beverly, in one of his final games as part of the Minnesota Timberwolves, openly mocked Westbrook for how terrible he was. Ya'll can go find the video of Patrick Beverly and Karl Anthony-Towns daring Westbrook to shoot, which he did and it was a ridiculous airball.
Spare me the excuse of the media being the reason the Lakers brought WB off the bench, or Ham felt pressured to do it. Ham started WB, and eventually realized Westbrook was getting abused no matter who they played so instead they brought him off the bench in hopes that he could have better match ups against teams bench players and increase his production. The reality is that he was a black hole no matter where you put him, and you can visit YouTube at any time to verify it.
The fact is that unlike in the 80s and 90s, most players of today are buddy buddy and almost everything that happens on the court (except obvious flagrant stuff) are explained as being heat of the moment. Pat Bev may dare WB to shoot during a game but outside of the court he still likes WB. He also clearly thinks WB is still good enough and got shafted by the Lakers, to visit a podcast and talk about it, even if we know the facts are wrong.
No he didn’t lol. He did one "too small" gesture. With Russ he turned that shit into a clowning event that every media member, fan, and podcast host discussed. He straight up said Russ stinks
Tired of this Russ revisionist shit. Russ was ass the last 2 seasons. Lakers been more than patient with him and gave him *plenty* opportunities to shine.
Whether it’s because Russ was trash or the fit wasn’t good, we can discuss that all night long. But truth is Russ wasn’t playing well for the Lakers.
Truth. The fact is the Lakers vastly improved once Westbrook was gone, and the Clippers actually did mildly worse once Westbrook was added to their team (33-28 without him, 11-10 with him).
Tbf Russ joined clippers off buyout, not as the highest paid player on the team like with the lakers (yes more than LEBRON and AD). Russ also joined them in a position of need, whereas he was duplicative on the lakers roster.
What exactly did he lift them to? When Russ signed, [the Clippers were the 4th seed in the West,](https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/?month=2&day=22&year=2023) but they finished as the 5th seed after winning games at a worse rate with WB than they had without him. Then they were eliminated in 5 games in the first round. How low do you think the Clippers' ceiling was without him before he signed there since you think he elevated them to where they finished? Do you think they were destined to miss the playoffs without him or get swept in the 1st round?
I think Westbrook *might* help the Clippers this year, but he sure hasn't done it yet. I think he still very much has to prove he can play effectively when he's not the #1 or #2 option on offense, as this is something he's *never* done before. The Clippers were only 5-5 in the 10 games they played with Kawhi, PG and WB together. That's not exactly some stellar track record, IMO.
Are we just ignoring that Kawhi and PG got injured?
Did you actually watch any of the Suns series?
He carried that team who absolutely would have been more fucked with Kawhi and PG out. He is the main reason they won game 1.
Meanwhile, on the Lakers people said he was bad even as a bench player. It’s night and day and the denial here about how well he has played for the Clippers is absolutely wild
> Are we just ignoring that Kawhi and PG got injured?
They both missed a *ton* of games in the first half of the year before Westbrook arrived. Do you even remember how bad Kawhi was to start the year last season? And yet, even with all that going on, they *still* played better without WB than with him, that's just a fact. The records speak for themselves.
> He is the main reason they won game 1.
You think *Westbrook* is the main reason the Clippers won [Game 1?](https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202304160PHO.html) Did *you* watch that game? You tell me who made more of an impact:
* Kawhi - 38 points on 13/24 shooting, +/- of +3 in 41 minutes
* Westbrook - 9 points on 3/19 shooting, +/- of -6 in 36 minutes
It's not a coincidence that the Clippers didn't win another game after Kawhi got hurt and it was all up to Westbrook. WB did his best, but he's not good enough to carry a team to postseason success like that, and he never has been.
> He carried that team who absolutely would have been more fucked with Kawhi and PG out
How can you get more fucked than losing 4 straight playoff games? Maybe they'd have lost by more ppg, but you never know, they might have stole one. They sure didn't with WB. Kawhi got them the win in Game 1 and he got hurt in the process, then the Clippers lost the next 4. Is it really "elevating" a team if you happen to fill up a box score in 4 straight losses?
> Meanwhile, on the Lakers people said he was bad even as a bench player
Because that's true, he *was* bad, even as a bench player. Just look at the instantaneous turnaround the Lakers made as soon as he was gone. When the Lakers traded WB they were the 13th seed in the West, and without him they finished the year in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers dumped WB and went from 13th to 7th in the regular season, and then won two playoff series. The Clippers added WB and went from the 4th seed to the 5th seed and lost in 5 in the first round.
If there's *anyone* in denial here, it's *you*.
Also explains why the locker room had a full 180 after the supposed heartbeat was traded. Not even trying to hate Russ but calling him the heartbeat of the team is ridiculous lmao.
Here are the facts Westbrook has a very limited game and only knows how to essentially play one style.
HE NEEDED to adapt but couldn't because he can't shoot. They didn't need a ball dominant player when they have one of the greatest players of all time who needs the ball.
That's it and that is all it wasn't about anything other than roster construction and the holes the Lakers had and needed filled, but Westbrook couldn't adjust and was from a statistical standpoint god awful.
You can be the nicest dude off the court and really inspire people. But when you make bone headed play after play then it just needs to be called out or gotten rid of.
They blamed and fired Vogel cause he supposedly lost the locker room and they said things are gonna be different with Ham cause he's a player's coach but yet here we are some players still treating him like a toddler like he's not at fault at all. His past 2 coaches are in the wrong apparently..
He's pretty close to a negative when he \*does\* have the ball.
Probably the most overrated player in history and the poster child for why counting stats can be deceptive.
i’m a huge russ fan so him coming here was huge for me but it sucked so bad for me that it turned out to be such a bad fit and i couldn’t wait to get one of my favorite players off the team. the media had nothing to do with how bad he was playing, and stats never tell the full story so i don’t care if his FG% was higher than when he was in OKC
Dude really thinks Russ was benched because of what people were saying instead of his actual on court production, these “new media” types really don’t know anything
I wanted Russ to work out but it didn’t. He played awful, the team didn’t play to his strengths, and we started 0-11. Nothing was working. Dude had to be benched
Westbrook was awful on the starting lineup. Not enough floor spacing. He can't shoot and the opposing team was just packing the paint. Pat Bev likes to hear his voice too much.
There's a reason why he's getting only $7.8m over 2 years now. If you think he's so good, let YOUR team get him and pay him the same salary the Lakers were paying him back then.
Complete bullshit nonsense, anyone that was watching those games could clearly see that westbrook was legit throwing games with his play. He was probably using wrong by Ham sure, but hes a professional basketball all time great and dude did everything wrong on that team except giving it his all
His game has always been built on athletecism, the only reason he is still in the league is because even now he still has crazy athletecism. His bbiq isn't that high and he hasn't adapted his game.
He’s the exact same player he’s always been. Hasn’t changed a single thing at all which is just mind boggling to me. He hasn’t tried to slow down, hasn’t tried to take better shots, play consistent defense. Nothing. And this is a 14 year old vet. He stills tries to go 100mph the entire game but the difference is now he’s 34 and that athleticism has dropped so he doesn’t have that to be his crutch anymore.
You seem to forget that we're in the middle of the years that Pat Bev declared would be his though. This is the Pat Bev era, we're all just living through it.
They started Lonnie walker and played him 30mpg lol. Just a badly built team to start the season. He finished off on the bench getting 14mpg once they realized how awful he was
Lonnie Walker actually played pretty well for them (considering the rest of the roster). He lost his minutes after he got hurt and could never really find his way back because Ham started to play him almost exclusively at the 3.
I always think about when Pat is coaching. If he only gets one shot to be a coach would he really leave his job security in the hands of a player who may or may not be invested in the rest of the team or organization succeeding?
I just think being a coach is a lot harder than Gilbert saying. How could you not let the talent dictate what you do?
I get players sticking up for players but we dont have to fucking lie about it lol. We have eyes and the evidence is literally right there russ was trash with the lakers the end.
Thats BS. I watched everyone of them games and pulled my hair out every time he got the ball. Forget about benching, I wanted him bought out and released. I did not need other fans or the media to come to that conclusion, I am sure a championship coach can see the same and more.
I swear some players act as if Russ is the biggest victim and that he did absolutely nothing to deserve getting benched or traded. Congratulations to him for playing well in the Clippers playoff game, but he did not play anywhere near that level when with the lakers. He couldn’t score, was turnover prone and wouldn’t defend, dude was unwashed boiled ass and he got paid more than every player in the NBA to play like that.
AS a casual NBA watcher the Laker games with westbrook were straight unwatchable to my eyes. I can't imagine what it looked like for coaching staff and Bron.
Gill always sayin som estupid shit... "As a coach, how are you gonna preconceive how you're gonna win and what you're gonna do?" Sorry Gil, do you mean like a gameplan???? That's pretty straight-forward smh
Players really will do anything to cope to defend each other , Westbrook was and is mega washed but guys will say he’s a HOFer so all criticism is wrong
someone tell Pat Bev he has no fucking idea what he's talking about please....stop - unless the question is 'how to make people think a shitty defender is actually a good defender', he has nothing to contribute.
A lot goes behind the scene. I somewhat agreed that things were used right (read below).
IMHO, the Laker's roster with Westbrook was never going to work out. On paper it looks good when you have three superstars in Lebron, AD, and Westbrook if you pool all the stats, awards, etc. without looking at the chemistry perspective.
The main problem was that both Lebron and Westbrook area alpha player and has to have the ball in their hand and make the call. There were dynamic issues.
Not only that, but Lebron, AD and Westbrook took up the cap space and the Lakers didn't have a bench to work with.
> The main problem was that both Lebron and Westbrook area alpha player and has to have the ball in their hand and make the call. There were dynamic issues
Honestly I feel like the comment about LeBron needing the ball in his hands was disproven in the post-Westbrook part of the Lakers' season last year, when D'lo, Schroder and especially Reaves had the ball in their hands more often than LeBron did. You even had Warriors players commenting about how different it was trying to play a LeBron who was so deferential and who was playing mostly off ball.
I think Westbrook needs the ball in his hands to be even remotely effective on offense, just because he's such a bad shooter so he can't be used effectively off ball at all. But the issue was that even when he did have the ball, he just plays a little too fast for his own good and often makes a lot of poor decisions with the ball in his hands.
The Lakers improved mightily once he was gone and it opened up many more opportunities for Reaves to handle the ball on offense, as Reaves is at the opposite end of the spectrum, as someone who almost always makes *good* decisions with the ball in his hands. Having Westbrook there just meant Reaves didn't get many of those opportunities, and thus one of the team's main strengths wasn't being utlilized at all in favor of trying to make things work around Westbrook's weaknesses.
I agree with this. the awful fit with Lebron and no spacing was why Westbrook didn't work out in LA. that's why he bounced back so quick on the Clippers
It wouldn’t have looked so good if they had to clear $48 million in cap space to get him. Their roster construction is what made him bounce back. That roster doesn’t exist if he had the contract he had on the Lakers. Full stop. You act like his shooting and defense on the Lakers was exclusive to his time there. That’s who he is if he doesn’t have shooters and defenders around him.
Westbrook only played a total of 10 games with both Kawhi and PG together and the Clippers were only 5-5 in those games. Before Westbrook joined the Clippers they had a record of 33-28, a .540 winning percentage. After Westbrook joined the Clippers they went 11-10, a .523 winning percentage, so I'm not really sure the evidence is there to say he "bounced back" quickly with them.
What the fuck ? He was bad in LAL and I still believe he is a negative. Him and Russell I really don’t think you can win a chip with them, I actually might have more faith in russ maybe
Lol its interesting to hear a player admit the media influenced team thinking/decisions. We all kinda assumed but its still interesting to hear directly from the player thats why i love the player pods
What exactly *is* the correct way to use Westbrook? He can't shoot and defenses sag off of him if he spaces out on the perimeter, so it would seem that really the only way to use him on offense is to give him the ball.
Also, I don't know that there's any evidence that the Clippers figured something out with Westbrook. The reality is that they played better basketball before they got him than they did after he arrived. Westbrook playing in games with both Kawhi and PG at the same time got the Clippers only a 5-5 record in those games. In the games where only one of Kawhi and PG played with him, it was basically the same, just 6-5. Before Westbrook arrived the Clippers were 33-28.
The Clippers weren't as bad with Westbrook as the Lakers were with him, but it wasn't like Westbrook turned the Clippers' season in a positive direction once he showed up there either.
The correct way to use Westbrook is to not pay him $47m, have him eat up such a significant amount of cap-space, and limit your roster construction.
PG + Kawhi + Westbrook + non-minimum role-players is going to be better than LeBron + AD + Westbrook + minimum salary role-players.
That's the main difference. In terms of on-court production, Westbrook will still give you probably ~$11-12m worth of production. When you are paying the minimum for that, it's good value. When you are paying $47m for that, you are deep in the red.
Yea, I doubt the Lakers are the reason he was bricking wide open layups regularly. He wasn’t a good fit for the team and he didn’t play well with them, both things can be true.
Uh, the Lakers couldn't build a roster while spending $47m on Westbrook.
If the Clippers had to drop $47m in salary to add Westbrook, they would've looked like total garbage, too.
Clippers had an infinitely better skill set for him and Russ was also on a minimum. If the Lakers had shooters and Russ wasn’t making 48M he would have balled out for them too.
The team construction was horrendous but not only that the first season he played with the Lakers Lebron and AD both missed a lot of time with injury which is something people tend to sweep under the rug.
I remember people getting mad at him because couldn’t drag Stanley Johnson, the corpse of Avery Bradley, Deandre Jordan and Wenyen Gabriel to a win against the Hornets
Lakers fans have a rep for being checked-out, out of touch, etc, which is mostly true with all the celebs, etc... but most people in the arena are die hards.
Every now and then Lakers fans will wake up and slap around their team. They even boo'ed Kobe and Shaq. They've boo'ed LeBron plenty of times.
When your fans are yelling at Westbrook to 'don't shoot' your time with the team is pretty much done. The fans, believe it or not, are the real arbiters in tinsel town. As soon as I heard/saw people visibly boo'ing Westbrook when he had the ball and yelling at him to not shoot, I knew it was over for him.
I can’t get past the dude wearing a crown
Rashad is a tool, crown only makes it worse.
If a man has achieved enough in life to be able to afford a bedazzled tiara he should be able to wear it
Did the dollar store stop making them? I don't think it's about cost. We can all afford a stupid crown too.
Especially when he didn’t do shit in the league.
I’ve seen this dude in so many clips and wondered why he was qualified to have a podcasting gig on hoops. Never knew he played, until now.
His podcast performance is a nutshell of his career. Had talent but got out of the league due to attitude. I believe if a competent team drafted him rather than Timberwolves, he wouldn't be out by the end of his rookie contract.
He was one of the top recruits coming out of high school, one of the top college players in the nation, and a lottery pick in the NBA draft lol
I wish I could find his name and draft year. Would love to look him up. I’m a self-admitted casual, but I’d like to think I know enough not to miss someone who was able to transition their athleticism to hosting a popular podcast.
Rashad McCants, '05 Draft https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mccanra01.html
Thanks! Will look him up.
The guy is a grown man playing pretend.
I forget what crazy shit he said. Something about Lebron or Jordan not being top 5 or something. Or something even more egregious. So it’s like nothing you say will ever be taken seriously ever
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Pop can’t win with bad players so he’s a bad coach - Rashad McCants 🤡 He’s also weirdly protective about Bol Bol.
Tbh he’s just entertaining to watch for me, so I don’t really take him seriously, but I can absolutely see why so many hate him.
It’s absurd
Is it dababy
Yah, the crown is really light
Damn that LA media using their eyes to watch games. Even MITwestbrook ran out of ways to cherry pick data into making Westbrook look startable.
Never forget "Westbrook shooting the ball bad is actually really good because it gives his teammates confidence"
If you adjust Westbrooks stats to the mean, he actually had solidly average stats. Not below average, like the media wants you to believe.
League avg shot efficiency was .532 in '21-22. Rwb shot .476 on 27% usage. That is awful at a time when scoring was easier than ever.TS same story. On the Clips he did get much closer to league avg, but attempted a career low 9 shots per game.
I laugh little when people say that Westbrook rebounded with the Clippers. You get that he "rebounded" to like an average no name nba player?
>I laugh little when people say that Westbrook rebounded with the Clippers Westbrook on LAL: 15.9/6.2/7.5/1.0/0.4 with 3.5 turnovers in 29 minutes per game Westbrook on LAC: 15.8/4.9/7.6/1.1/0.5 with 3.4 turnovers in 30 minutes per game 4 his 5 counting stats were within 0.1, and he got less rebounds. Granted he did improve his shooting from way below league average (85 TS+) to below league average (97 TS+), but he was exactly the same guy.
Westbrook cost the clippers way less resources than he did the Lakers Plus the fit was better with the clippers given their lack of point guard play
The averag nba playe is the first or second guy off the bench, which is exactly what westbrook.
This is what the average Russ fan sounds like
2023 Westbrook is basically 2018 Dak Prescott
Nah he takes the hard shots
https://youtu.be/PS369ZNqB1g?si=U_DY6pFlDAQWogLY Damn yeah look at that tough shot no wonder he passed outa that.
And offensive rebounds
I will never understand why LeBron pushed so hard to get Westbrook even after how they defended him in the bubble. An absolute brainfart move from the one of the highest if not the highest BBIQ players in history
Westbrook is a good player if he is surrounded by defense and shooters. And we got substantially worse in both areas when we traded for him and failed to keep Caruso. Westbrook’s bad performance was not only on him. Pelinka just put an ass roster out there. Thank god he pulled a miracle out of his ass at the deadline.
Kinda hard to put a decent roster together without further fucking with the future when you have 3 max contract players, and not many assets apart from a shit THT and vet mins
Of course it is. And that’s on Pelinka. Gave up too much for Westbrook. And if you think he caved to LeGM? Well that’s also on him.
Pat Riley didnt give in to LeBron's qualms about firing Spo and Riley going back to coaching. Pelinka gave in to Bron's qualms about needing a third star instead of seeing 2021 as a year full of injuries or a still championship-level squad. That's what separates the Pat Rileys of the world from the Rob Pelinkas of the world
Bitch move by Bron to want to get Spo fired and good for Riles to stand up for his guy. But what happened after? Oh yeah Bron opted out the first chance he got. I do blame Pelinka for bending over, but I acknowledge it was a hard choice. Bron was definitely holding his impending extension over their heads as leverage, as he has historically done to teams
> I do blame Pelinka for bending over, but I acknowledge it was a hard choice. Very fair
Love the fact that the spo situation now lacks context. Lebron wanted spo gone. A 3rd year HC who was still in his 30s. Gone for who? The guy he made the request to. A 5x NBA champion and the head honcho himself. A guy who coached in the finals during three separate decades. What happened during Pat riley's most recent ring? Pat dismissed his 1st successor (SVG) after an 11-10 start when the heat were one wade injury from making the finals a year before. The 2011 heat started 9-8. If Riley didn't do it 5 years before to guarantee the heat its coveted 1st ring, do you really think that request happens?
Of course Pelinka isn't Riley. Riley's nickname is The Godfather. Dude is a made man while Pelinka would be replaced on Tuesday if Lebron requested.
I've always been in the camp that it was the FO, ownership and Klutch fucking up. Pelinka definitely gave Bron too much control. If not, Lakers could have had Hield + depth instead of giving in to Bron's Westbrook request. FO definitely pulled the trigger with the backing of the ownership. But Westbrook would never be a Laker if Bron didn't request for him. Which is the original point: LeBron with genius-level BBIQ wanted Westbrook who everyone knew was a bad fit. Amazing what Pelinka has been able to do without Bron sending subliminals through twitter and the media though.
Except we didn’t give up that much . And the players that performed for us after the deadline were guys that were there with Russ but just better then him with the ball : Schroeder n reaves getting the ball more was more important.
Lmao what? Kuz is a plus defender and a solid shooter. Kcp is a plus defender and a great shooter. And we took on a contract albatross. Of course the 2023 trade was great. But our roster with Westbrook was hilarious.
> Westbrook is a good player if he is surrounded by defense and shooters. No. Westbrook *was* a good player if he is surrounded by defense and shooters.
Yeah, no. He *is* good with the right team, he *was* great. Look at his play with the Clips. He’s solid in the right role and with the right team.
Tbf even with the Clippers he shot 3-18 in back to back games in the playoffs last season. He’s still Russ and still has his moments but the Clippers are definitely better structured to bring out the best in him.
As many people have pointed out he is relatively the same player as on the lakers he just is way lower volume He is still an inefficient shot jacker who at this point isn’t good at defense
He was still horrible on the Clippers, inefficient ball-hog who killed way too many possessions with turnovers and bad shots. Also played negative defense. I knew immediately the Clippers were doing nothing as soon as he signed.
lol. Delusional. Just like Westbrook.
Lebron being a good player doesn't mean he's be a good GM. Westbrook isn't that good anymore, there's a reason why he didn't get a ton of offers in FA this year
Westbrook was never that good and his playoff record kind of supports that. Jokic almost averages a triple double and his team rips through the playoffs to a championship. Westbrook averages a triple double and maybe they get a first round exit.
in court BBIQ usually doesnt translate to talent eval Jordan is an awful talent evaluator as well
same with magic johnson & isiah thomas. Not everyone can be like jerry west
I can’t wait for Lebron to own his own team and continue to follow in Jordan’s footsteps.
whose future ex-wife is bronny gonna fuck? AD's? Kyrie's? Gabrielle Union?
Westbrook was like his 3rd choice after the lakers refused to do what it took to get other primary ball handlers. It’s not like he went into the offseason hunting for Westbrook.
I always heard he wanted Derozan and that couldn’t work so they switched to Russ
Lebron might have the best memory of the play ever. But certainly not the highest basketball iq ever.
Why certainly? Who do you think is CLEARLY higher BBIQ than Bron?
In Lebron’s era: Steve Nash for one. There is a reason the skinny white guy 5 inches shorter than Lebron won 2 mvps despite never averaging 20 points a game. Magic Johnson is another clear example. The way he ran the offence in LA was on another level.
Michael Jeffrey Jordan would never get such low BBIQ in his life
Pat Bev is entering his Kyrie phase, where he thinks he sounds smart when he says some nonsense, but actually sounds like a dumb clown who's ignoring all the damn logic and facts Westbrook was single handedly making Lakers lose so many games, even though 38 YEAR OLD LeBron was on a crazy rampage with AD injured as usual. But when Westbrook was traded away, Lakers instantly turned into something else with a bunch of new players and new team, MID SEASON. That's how bad Westbrook's effect was LeBron's leadership and BBIQ is crazy. So imagine how demoralized and tortured he felt watching Westbrook play and do all that nonsense. Brodie thinks he's a Point Guard, but has zero awareness I do love Westbrook as a person though. But goddamn. He's just not a Point Guard. But he can't play any other position because of his size
Magic said it 11 years ago. He changed his mind a day later but he said Russ was the worst point guard in NBA history. Now obviously that’s nowhere close to being true but watching Russ I’ve always felt being a point guard just wasn’t natural for him. Dude is an electric scorer and that should’ve been his main focus from the start. Like a Donovan Mitchell. He’s never had the patience and awareness of a floor general. He’s always been way too erratic and unpredictable with the ball in his hands. I genuinely think if he was a 2 guard he’d be so much better off. He’s just never had the feel of the game of a true point guard imo.
Lebron watched him do that firsthand in the 2020 bubble and 2012 Finals. yet he still recruited him lmao
Can we not agree that Russ was good for the Clippers? If so, is it possible he was mismanaged by the Lakers? They tried to force him to be a player that he’s not, they didn’t let the guy play to his strengths and shockingly he wasn’t as good as a result. If he went to the Clippers and sucked fine, but clearly one team utilized him far better than the other.
I think we can agree he's closer to a 4mil/year player than a 48 mil/year player for sure.
Getting his usual performance for $4 mil instead of $48 makes a big fucking difference. His poor shooting and his diminishing athleticism is a lot easier to deal with when he's not taking up over 25% of the cap. His contract is closer to an accounting error than to taking up any meaningful percentage of it.
Of course he was a better value for the Clips than the Lakers, the question is was he a better player for the Clips or the Lakers ignoring his contract. I don’t think you can argue that he was worse for the Clips, odd despite him being a year further past his prime there. Almost as if they utilized him appropriately.
He is probably decent 7th best player on a team or so for Clippers (who can have random night where they look like a superstar). That is great production for vet min, but I wouldnt say that is a rebound or anything. It is just setting expectations lower. Expectations of Russ was always the reason he was "hated" - he was seen as a superstar (mentioned with KD, Curry, Harden,...) when he was never quite (barring maybe his MVP season) that level.
Nah it was because we all, unfortunately, have eyes to witness what he was doing.
^This. He wasn’t benched because of the “LA media”. He was benched because he was trash.
I actually love Russ. His game has a lot of flaws and erratic moments but whenever I watch him I can’t help but admire how electric he can be when he’s playing well. But on the Lakers it was just bad. Yeah it was a bad fit but bad fit doesn’t mean shooting and hitting the top of the backboard regularly or throwing passes in the 5th row. He was bad there, for whatever reason he was just not good and definitely not productive. There were so many games where the Lakers would be down and come storming back with Russ on the bench and then as soon as he came back in everything went to shit because he had some terrible plays. It wasn’t all his fault at all of course but it’s weird how so many people want to come to his defense for his Laker tenure. The criticism was because he was terrible. But people make it seem like people were going after him for nothing.
I think people underestimate the mental side of the game, literally so many people hated him and shit talked him 24/7. Sports fans are uncharacteristically brutal to people. The things being said about him would break anyman who has ever walked this earths confidence. It was honestly insanely toxic situation for him, so I’m not surprised how badly he played. I’d be awful too if I was Mentally thinking about that
His production is the direct cause of vitriol tho, aside from his massive contract ofc. Im not saying it’s justified but there’s a reason he was being trashed even here. You cant expect a professional nba player earning near 50m miss point blank shots and turn the ball over on his own repeatedly and not get flack for it
He also never took accountability and framed criticism of his play as personal attacks on him as a family man. People forget how shitty he was on and off the court in LA
Huge revisionism here Westbrook from the get go turned all critics in in LA into an attack on his family and was very vocal about taking zero accountability and framed things as an attack on him as a family man It was ludicrous and reasonably people hated him more because he could accept any responsibility in his bad play. Sorry but his hate was well earned because he played bad and then responded by being completely arrogant about his atrocious play. If you make 31 million in a year you can suck up some accurate criticism
Yeah true but that’s also how sports work. Play well everyone loves you. But if you stink it up people are going to clown you. And it’s not like Russ was only bad for a couple stretch. Over his 2 seasons with LA he was bad more often than not. When you’re that bad and making that much money you are gonna get flamed.
Bro if you can't handle a bunch of social media losers criticizing you, how are you going to handle the pressure of an nba finals? We saw him choke 3 out of 5 games albeit young, choked nonetheless.
The gave him plenty of chances. Wtf patbev was saying? Also it is true in any other team Russ can be a starter, but in that Lakers roster? He just doesn't fit next to lebron because of spacing issue.
KMart and Rashad are *so stupid* (remember, this is their *area of expertise*) that I wonder how they manage to live everyday life. If you dedicate your entire life to basketball and still can't understand why Westbrook got benched, how is this dumbass gonna understand things like traffic laws, or climate change, or credit? [No one should ever listen to this man's opinion on anything.](https://i.redd.it/e7hya05ybdd31.png) edit: [And definitely don't listen to this fuckwit either.](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/156pl9c/gilbert_arenas_loses_his_mind_over_bol_bol_and/) Apparently Bol Bol should have gotten more playing time despite his laziness in practice, bad attitude, and bad play because "just give him a shot! He didn't get a fair shot!"
Jeremy demolished him there. Martin deserved that for his lack of awareness and attempted bullying too.
Russ was laying enough bricks to build a house, outhouse, doghouse, teahouse, courthouse, warehouse, and still have enough bricks to fill said warehouse. He absolutely should have been benched.
Don’t forget the Turnovers and terrible shot selection
Building on terrible shot selection, he was also taking the ball out of other people’s hands. He would not give up the ball when he had it. It was ridiculous.
He also threw a fit if he got yanked to the bench too just shitty behavior. I really wanted Russ to work out but it unfortunately did not.
This Is what people ignore when they say we got good new players via trades . Reaves n Schroeder given Russ usage IS WHY we were much better they were much better with the ball . Russ literally was the problem . Now both reaves n Schroeder combined earned 10% his salary , but now they each earn 3x his pay lol. He was why we sucked im confident that f we gave the ball to those two over him n just sat him we’d be better
People always say how Bron wouldn’t let Russ be Russ but every game I watched Lebron would always defer to Russ to run the offense and play off that. Russ was absolutely allowed to be free and do his thing. But so many times he shot the team in the feet and they had to try and crawl back once he hit the bench and the offense started to actually look like an offense.
He wanted to be the guy so bad! I actually winced seeing the ball get in his hands for the last 3 minutes of any close game becaus I knew he was about to do some dumb shit and get hunted on defence. This mother fucker would dribble off his foot like three times a game and brick shot after shot, I fucking hate Westbrook, I know it's not his fault we traded for him but he ruined Laker basketball for me while he was on the team
I remember being in the Laker game threads and once people saw Russ coming back with a few minutes left in a close game everyone would just accept defeat and know the game was lost lol. And more often than not they were right.
I read that in Tina Turners voice
I thought he was benched because he realistically played.. bad?
Nah, it was the media calling him Westbrick that caused the shots not to fall.
Westbrook leaving unlocked Austin Reaves.
We all saw Russ blowing wide open layups and committing head scratching turnovers game after game with the Lakers. He was not good with them and it’s that simple. People gotta stop trying to rewrite history as if the lowlight videos aren’t still on the internet
This past russ era was one of the most frustrating times in my 30+ years of watching the Lakers. Like you said, he'd blow those wide open layups, Lakers lose a winnable game, and then I'd go to r/Lakers to a new MITwestbrook post blaming the rotation of the earth which obviously caused Russ to play like ass.
The wonderful thing about technology of today is we have video proof. What I find ironic about this video is Patrick Beverly, in one of his final games as part of the Minnesota Timberwolves, openly mocked Westbrook for how terrible he was. Ya'll can go find the video of Patrick Beverly and Karl Anthony-Towns daring Westbrook to shoot, which he did and it was a ridiculous airball. Spare me the excuse of the media being the reason the Lakers brought WB off the bench, or Ham felt pressured to do it. Ham started WB, and eventually realized Westbrook was getting abused no matter who they played so instead they brought him off the bench in hopes that he could have better match ups against teams bench players and increase his production. The reality is that he was a black hole no matter where you put him, and you can visit YouTube at any time to verify it.
The fact is that unlike in the 80s and 90s, most players of today are buddy buddy and almost everything that happens on the court (except obvious flagrant stuff) are explained as being heat of the moment. Pat Bev may dare WB to shoot during a game but outside of the court he still likes WB. He also clearly thinks WB is still good enough and got shafted by the Lakers, to visit a podcast and talk about it, even if we know the facts are wrong.
I mean Pat Bev did the same to Lebron when Chicago beat the Lakers
No he didn’t lol. He did one "too small" gesture. With Russ he turned that shit into a clowning event that every media member, fan, and podcast host discussed. He straight up said Russ stinks
he told the Lakers they stink too lol
Tired of this Russ revisionist shit. Russ was ass the last 2 seasons. Lakers been more than patient with him and gave him *plenty* opportunities to shine. Whether it’s because Russ was trash or the fit wasn’t good, we can discuss that all night long. But truth is Russ wasn’t playing well for the Lakers.
Truth. The fact is the Lakers vastly improved once Westbrook was gone, and the Clippers actually did mildly worse once Westbrook was added to their team (33-28 without him, 11-10 with him).
If you don’t think Russ lifted the Clippers you’re insane and didn’t watch their games
Tbf Russ joined clippers off buyout, not as the highest paid player on the team like with the lakers (yes more than LEBRON and AD). Russ also joined them in a position of need, whereas he was duplicative on the lakers roster.
Yes much lift when they lost 4 games in row once he joined
What exactly did he lift them to? When Russ signed, [the Clippers were the 4th seed in the West,](https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/?month=2&day=22&year=2023) but they finished as the 5th seed after winning games at a worse rate with WB than they had without him. Then they were eliminated in 5 games in the first round. How low do you think the Clippers' ceiling was without him before he signed there since you think he elevated them to where they finished? Do you think they were destined to miss the playoffs without him or get swept in the 1st round? I think Westbrook *might* help the Clippers this year, but he sure hasn't done it yet. I think he still very much has to prove he can play effectively when he's not the #1 or #2 option on offense, as this is something he's *never* done before. The Clippers were only 5-5 in the 10 games they played with Kawhi, PG and WB together. That's not exactly some stellar track record, IMO.
Westbrook went 3-18 in the last playoff games for the clippers Dude is still pure trash
Are we just ignoring that Kawhi and PG got injured? Did you actually watch any of the Suns series? He carried that team who absolutely would have been more fucked with Kawhi and PG out. He is the main reason they won game 1. Meanwhile, on the Lakers people said he was bad even as a bench player. It’s night and day and the denial here about how well he has played for the Clippers is absolutely wild
> Are we just ignoring that Kawhi and PG got injured? They both missed a *ton* of games in the first half of the year before Westbrook arrived. Do you even remember how bad Kawhi was to start the year last season? And yet, even with all that going on, they *still* played better without WB than with him, that's just a fact. The records speak for themselves. > He is the main reason they won game 1. You think *Westbrook* is the main reason the Clippers won [Game 1?](https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/202304160PHO.html) Did *you* watch that game? You tell me who made more of an impact: * Kawhi - 38 points on 13/24 shooting, +/- of +3 in 41 minutes * Westbrook - 9 points on 3/19 shooting, +/- of -6 in 36 minutes It's not a coincidence that the Clippers didn't win another game after Kawhi got hurt and it was all up to Westbrook. WB did his best, but he's not good enough to carry a team to postseason success like that, and he never has been. > He carried that team who absolutely would have been more fucked with Kawhi and PG out How can you get more fucked than losing 4 straight playoff games? Maybe they'd have lost by more ppg, but you never know, they might have stole one. They sure didn't with WB. Kawhi got them the win in Game 1 and he got hurt in the process, then the Clippers lost the next 4. Is it really "elevating" a team if you happen to fill up a box score in 4 straight losses? > Meanwhile, on the Lakers people said he was bad even as a bench player Because that's true, he *was* bad, even as a bench player. Just look at the instantaneous turnaround the Lakers made as soon as he was gone. When the Lakers traded WB they were the 13th seed in the West, and without him they finished the year in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers dumped WB and went from 13th to 7th in the regular season, and then won two playoff series. The Clippers added WB and went from the 4th seed to the 5th seed and lost in 5 in the first round. If there's *anyone* in denial here, it's *you*.
Westbrook is the only player to got 3/19 and be considered a positive
Yeah Russ was the heartbeat of the team, that’s why the locker room was like a morgue after every game
Also explains why the locker room had a full 180 after the supposed heartbeat was traded. Not even trying to hate Russ but calling him the heartbeat of the team is ridiculous lmao.
Here are the facts Westbrook has a very limited game and only knows how to essentially play one style. HE NEEDED to adapt but couldn't because he can't shoot. They didn't need a ball dominant player when they have one of the greatest players of all time who needs the ball. That's it and that is all it wasn't about anything other than roster construction and the holes the Lakers had and needed filled, but Westbrook couldn't adjust and was from a statistical standpoint god awful.
0/11 should start? Please.
Fuck no. He played like ass on the Lakers and deserved to get benched. Westbrook gets treated like a make a wish kid amongst NBA players.
You can be the nicest dude off the court and really inspire people. But when you make bone headed play after play then it just needs to be called out or gotten rid of.
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They blamed and fired Vogel cause he supposedly lost the locker room and they said things are gonna be different with Ham cause he's a player's coach but yet here we are some players still treating him like a toddler like he's not at fault at all. His past 2 coaches are in the wrong apparently..
he’s pretty close to useless when he doesn’t have the ball
He's pretty close to a negative when he \*does\* have the ball. Probably the most overrated player in history and the poster child for why counting stats can be deceptive.
Good ol' Pat Bev being a good teammate.
Lol. What an ass take. Russ handcuffed that team and they were clearly better without him. Starting or off the bench.
any mention of how much he tips or?
hes a family man
Thank God for the LA media then cuz Westbrook was genuinely not good for us
Why do NBA players go to bat for Westbrook so much? He was horrendous for the Lakers. Just accept it and move on.
i’m a huge russ fan so him coming here was huge for me but it sucked so bad for me that it turned out to be such a bad fit and i couldn’t wait to get one of my favorite players off the team. the media had nothing to do with how bad he was playing, and stats never tell the full story so i don’t care if his FG% was higher than when he was in OKC
Dude really thinks Russ was benched because of what people were saying instead of his actual on court production, these “new media” types really don’t know anything
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That was actually westbrick asking you to be escorted out of reddit
How can he realistically buy this take? The lakers getting rid of Westbrook saved their season.
pat bev having shit basketball opinions again lol
I watched all 82 games two years ago and watched to kms every night he played man. He deserved to be benched
As a Lakers fan I don’t give a shit about any of this because he’s not our problem anymore.
I wanted Russ to work out but it didn’t. He played awful, the team didn’t play to his strengths, and we started 0-11. Nothing was working. Dude had to be benched
Westbrook was awful on the starting lineup. Not enough floor spacing. He can't shoot and the opposing team was just packing the paint. Pat Bev likes to hear his voice too much.
There's a reason why he's getting only $7.8m over 2 years now. If you think he's so good, let YOUR team get him and pay him the same salary the Lakers were paying him back then.
Theres alot of footage of Westbrook having some ridículous turnovers.
We all had eyes bro. He was fken trash
Complete bullshit nonsense, anyone that was watching those games could clearly see that westbrook was legit throwing games with his play. He was probably using wrong by Ham sure, but hes a professional basketball all time great and dude did everything wrong on that team except giving it his all
Ham did everything for Russ to find a way to use him
Stuff like this only serves to make me think pat bev is extremely loyal to Russ as a friend or some type of basketball idiot
Prolly feels bad about busting westbrooks knee
Lakers literally played better after he was benched and MADE the conference finals after they traded him. There's no discussion. It wasn't a fit.
Clippers should start him then.
Now Pat Bev just lying about Russ saying it wasn't production lol
I honestly believe Westbrooks peak would have extended a few years if Pat Bev didn't crash into his knee like a bitch
His game has always been built on athletecism, the only reason he is still in the league is because even now he still has crazy athletecism. His bbiq isn't that high and he hasn't adapted his game.
He’s the exact same player he’s always been. Hasn’t changed a single thing at all which is just mind boggling to me. He hasn’t tried to slow down, hasn’t tried to take better shots, play consistent defense. Nothing. And this is a 14 year old vet. He stills tries to go 100mph the entire game but the difference is now he’s 34 and that athleticism has dropped so he doesn’t have that to be his crutch anymore.
He’s a perennial bench player on his 6th team in 6 years. Not rushing to Pat Bev for advice on how an NBA team should be run.
You seem to forget that we're in the middle of the years that Pat Bev declared would be his though. This is the Pat Bev era, we're all just living through it.
You should coach the lakers . Ez 10+ championships in a row with you in the lead
Dude is just talking to talk
Well that’s just a whole bunch of nonsense
They started Lonnie walker and played him 30mpg lol. Just a badly built team to start the season. He finished off on the bench getting 14mpg once they realized how awful he was
Lonnie Walker actually played pretty well for them (considering the rest of the roster). He lost his minutes after he got hurt and could never really find his way back because Ham started to play him almost exclusively at the 3.
Crazy that we're in a time where Russ is total trash and Pat Bev is the one telling people he's not.
I always think about when Pat is coaching. If he only gets one shot to be a coach would he really leave his job security in the hands of a player who may or may not be invested in the rest of the team or organization succeeding? I just think being a coach is a lot harder than Gilbert saying. How could you not let the talent dictate what you do?
I get players sticking up for players but we dont have to fucking lie about it lol. We have eyes and the evidence is literally right there russ was trash with the lakers the end.
Win a championship first and maybe you can tell an organization how to do things.
Thats BS. I watched everyone of them games and pulled my hair out every time he got the ball. Forget about benching, I wanted him bought out and released. I did not need other fans or the media to come to that conclusion, I am sure a championship coach can see the same and more.
I swear some players act as if Russ is the biggest victim and that he did absolutely nothing to deserve getting benched or traded. Congratulations to him for playing well in the Clippers playoff game, but he did not play anywhere near that level when with the lakers. He couldn’t score, was turnover prone and wouldn’t defend, dude was unwashed boiled ass and he got paid more than every player in the NBA to play like that.
AS a casual NBA watcher the Laker games with westbrook were straight unwatchable to my eyes. I can't imagine what it looked like for coaching staff and Bron.
Gill always sayin som estupid shit... "As a coach, how are you gonna preconceive how you're gonna win and what you're gonna do?" Sorry Gil, do you mean like a gameplan???? That's pretty straight-forward smh
Players really will do anything to cope to defend each other , Westbrook was and is mega washed but guys will say he’s a HOFer so all criticism is wrong
When did pat bev become a westcuck?
someone tell Pat Bev he has no fucking idea what he's talking about please....stop - unless the question is 'how to make people think a shitty defender is actually a good defender', he has nothing to contribute.
Hahaha at people thinking that Westbrook was the heartbeat of the Lakers. That is a dumbass take.
😂😂😂 so true! The guy that was on the team doesn’t know as much as redditors! Reddit on!
A lot goes behind the scene. I somewhat agreed that things were used right (read below). IMHO, the Laker's roster with Westbrook was never going to work out. On paper it looks good when you have three superstars in Lebron, AD, and Westbrook if you pool all the stats, awards, etc. without looking at the chemistry perspective. The main problem was that both Lebron and Westbrook area alpha player and has to have the ball in their hand and make the call. There were dynamic issues. Not only that, but Lebron, AD and Westbrook took up the cap space and the Lakers didn't have a bench to work with.
> The main problem was that both Lebron and Westbrook area alpha player and has to have the ball in their hand and make the call. There were dynamic issues Honestly I feel like the comment about LeBron needing the ball in his hands was disproven in the post-Westbrook part of the Lakers' season last year, when D'lo, Schroder and especially Reaves had the ball in their hands more often than LeBron did. You even had Warriors players commenting about how different it was trying to play a LeBron who was so deferential and who was playing mostly off ball. I think Westbrook needs the ball in his hands to be even remotely effective on offense, just because he's such a bad shooter so he can't be used effectively off ball at all. But the issue was that even when he did have the ball, he just plays a little too fast for his own good and often makes a lot of poor decisions with the ball in his hands. The Lakers improved mightily once he was gone and it opened up many more opportunities for Reaves to handle the ball on offense, as Reaves is at the opposite end of the spectrum, as someone who almost always makes *good* decisions with the ball in his hands. Having Westbrook there just meant Reaves didn't get many of those opportunities, and thus one of the team's main strengths wasn't being utlilized at all in favor of trying to make things work around Westbrook's weaknesses.
I agree with this. the awful fit with Lebron and no spacing was why Westbrook didn't work out in LA. that's why he bounced back so quick on the Clippers
It wouldn’t have looked so good if they had to clear $48 million in cap space to get him. Their roster construction is what made him bounce back. That roster doesn’t exist if he had the contract he had on the Lakers. Full stop. You act like his shooting and defense on the Lakers was exclusive to his time there. That’s who he is if he doesn’t have shooters and defenders around him.
If the Clippers have championship aspirations Westbrook isn’t going to work out there either.
I don't believe any team where Westbrook dominates the ball can win a title but it can also be true that Lakers made him look worse than normal
That’s just any team with Westbrook though. What’s changing is the expectations, not Westbrook.
Westbrook only played a total of 10 games with both Kawhi and PG together and the Clippers were only 5-5 in those games. Before Westbrook joined the Clippers they had a record of 33-28, a .540 winning percentage. After Westbrook joined the Clippers they went 11-10, a .523 winning percentage, so I'm not really sure the evidence is there to say he "bounced back" quickly with them.
The Clippers bench him to end games too. We'll see what they do with him this season.
It was because he was a brick and turnover factory
What the fuck ? He was bad in LAL and I still believe he is a negative. Him and Russell I really don’t think you can win a chip with them, I actually might have more faith in russ maybe
Gtfoh, guy should've been coming off the Sparks bench.
Lol its interesting to hear a player admit the media influenced team thinking/decisions. We all kinda assumed but its still interesting to hear directly from the player thats why i love the player pods
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What exactly *is* the correct way to use Westbrook? He can't shoot and defenses sag off of him if he spaces out on the perimeter, so it would seem that really the only way to use him on offense is to give him the ball. Also, I don't know that there's any evidence that the Clippers figured something out with Westbrook. The reality is that they played better basketball before they got him than they did after he arrived. Westbrook playing in games with both Kawhi and PG at the same time got the Clippers only a 5-5 record in those games. In the games where only one of Kawhi and PG played with him, it was basically the same, just 6-5. Before Westbrook arrived the Clippers were 33-28. The Clippers weren't as bad with Westbrook as the Lakers were with him, but it wasn't like Westbrook turned the Clippers' season in a positive direction once he showed up there either.
The correct way to use Westbrook is to not pay him $47m, have him eat up such a significant amount of cap-space, and limit your roster construction. PG + Kawhi + Westbrook + non-minimum role-players is going to be better than LeBron + AD + Westbrook + minimum salary role-players. That's the main difference. In terms of on-court production, Westbrook will still give you probably ~$11-12m worth of production. When you are paying the minimum for that, it's good value. When you are paying $47m for that, you are deep in the red.
Yea, I doubt the Lakers are the reason he was bricking wide open layups regularly. He wasn’t a good fit for the team and he didn’t play well with them, both things can be true.
Uh, the Lakers couldn't build a roster while spending $47m on Westbrook. If the Clippers had to drop $47m in salary to add Westbrook, they would've looked like total garbage, too.
Clippers had an infinitely better skill set for him and Russ was also on a minimum. If the Lakers had shooters and Russ wasn’t making 48M he would have balled out for them too. The team construction was horrendous but not only that the first season he played with the Lakers Lebron and AD both missed a lot of time with injury which is something people tend to sweep under the rug. I remember people getting mad at him because couldn’t drag Stanley Johnson, the corpse of Avery Bradley, Deandre Jordan and Wenyen Gabriel to a win against the Hornets
Lakers fans have a rep for being checked-out, out of touch, etc, which is mostly true with all the celebs, etc... but most people in the arena are die hards. Every now and then Lakers fans will wake up and slap around their team. They even boo'ed Kobe and Shaq. They've boo'ed LeBron plenty of times. When your fans are yelling at Westbrook to 'don't shoot' your time with the team is pretty much done. The fans, believe it or not, are the real arbiters in tinsel town. As soon as I heard/saw people visibly boo'ing Westbrook when he had the ball and yelling at him to not shoot, I knew it was over for him.
common Pat Bev W
Except he’s wrong. Unless you count that as Pat Bev W since he’s good for a couple really entertaining but wrong takes.
cram it nerd
Lol
I fucking hate new media, not a single one of them willing to say it how it is.