Lakers: LeBron James Tries to Take Some of the Heat Off of Russell Westbrook
It's now been just over 6 months since the Lakers landed Russell Westbrook in a trade. In August of 2021, Los Angeles shipped off a handful of guys in hopes of creating a powerhouse trio with Russ, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis. Flash forward to now, and it has not worked out that way at all.
The Lakers have floundered to a 26-28 record and are just barely in the play-in tournament hunt. Russ has been right in the heart of those struggles, often taking the blame and criticism from fans and media.
And lately, he deserves it. Westbrook just had one of the worst games of his career this week, shooting 10 percent from the field and tallying 5 points in the win over the Knicks. But despite that, LeBron isn't going to let him take the blame.
James defended Russ following the Lakers' practice on Monday afternoon.
“We all in the foxhole together. There is not one guy who is doing it by themself. There’s not one guy you can blame over another guy. There’s not one guy who gets the praise over another guy. When we lose, we all lose. When we win, we all win.”
He's right in the sense that basketball is a team sport and it takes more than one guy to get the job done. But it's hard to excuse Westbrook's performance over the last...well, year. This month alone, he's shooting just 27 percent from the field and has reached double digits in points just once in 3 games.
The Lakers are reportedly still trying to move him at the trade deadline, but there's no way with the way he is playing. Even if he was playing out of his mind, that contract is enough for any team in the NBA to not want to get a deal done.
It's tough right now, and Frank Vogel needs to figure out what to do with Russ.
