Former Lakers Guard Russell Westbrook Seemingly Shades LeBron James

Future Hall of Fame point guard Russell Westbrook spent a brief, ill-fated year-and-a-half with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers, a tenure that did not yield too many highlight reel-worthy clips.

In the summer of 2021, team president Rob Pelinka offloaded key championship contributors Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, plus former Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell and a first round draft pick, to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Westbrook, then on a maximum contract.

Pelinka surrounded his new "Big Three" of Westbrook and frontcourt All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis with a bunch of players far past their primes, including Wayne Ellington, Trevor Ariza, Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Kent Bazemore, Rajon Rondo and DeAndre Jordan. Of those players, only Jordan went on to suit up on an NBA squad beyond that year.

Westbrook and James, who both thrive with the ball in their hands, didn't mesh well together, and the club finished with a miserable 33-49 record and missed the playoffs — just two years after winning it all.

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Midway through what seemed doomed to be a second straight lottery-bound season, in 2022-23, the Long Beach native was moved to the Utah Jazz, who promptly bought him out. He signed with his other hometown team, the L.A. Clippers.

After Westbrook's horrific 2024 playoff showing with the Clippers (he averaged 6.3 points on .190/.260/.615 shooting splits, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals in 19.0 minutes per), he was traded back to the Jazz in the summer, and bought out again. Westbrook opted to sign with the depth-challenged Denver Nuggets, and although he is prone to some questionable boneheaded late decision-making even still, he's been comporting himself fairly well as a utility sixth man.

In a surprise 121-119 Game 1 road victory against the mighty Oklahoma City Thunder (another former Westbrook team, of course), Westbrook was a big part of a game-winning play.

After Chet Holmgren missed two free throws with 10 seconds remaining in regulation, Christian Braun secured an improbable rebound (his 13th of the game), and dished the ball to a driving Westbrook, with Denver trailing by a point. Westbrook spotted a wide-open Aaron Gordon on the wing, who nailed a triple with four seconds remaining.

ANOTHER AARON GORDON GAME WINNER 🤯 pic.twitter.com/yZNsU0zmzd
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) May 6, 2025

All-Star Thunder forward Jalen Williams whiffed on a halfcourt heave, giving Denver the victory.

Coming off the bench for Denver, Westbrook actually played more minutes (24) than starting small forward Michael Porter Jr. (30).

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He scored an efficient 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor (1-of-5 from distance) and 3-of-5 shooting from the foul line, while grabbing two rebounds and dishing out two assists.

After the game, Westbrook was asked about his old teammate, James, missing the Met Gala in New York due to his MCL sprain.

Ramona Shelburne: "It seemed like LeBron [James] was gonna go [to the Met Gala]... did you give him any tips on what to wear or how to handle that?"

Russell Westbrook: "I haven't talked to Bron in I don't how long." 😬

(via @guerillasports_)pic.twitter.com/l2HS487rRC
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 6, 2025

"It seemed like LeBron [James] was gonna go [to the Met Gala]... did you give him any tips on what to wear or how to handle that?" asked ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

Westbrook revealed that the two don't exactly keep in touch.

"I haven't talked to Bron in I don't how long," Westbrook said.

It's a sad, if perhaps somewhat unsurprising, revelation, and a reflection on a lost era in Lakers lore.

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