Lakers News: Former All-NBA Guard Bullish on Russell Westbrook 'revenge tour'
To put it plainly, Russell Westbrook didn't dazzle in his first season with the Lakers. Granted, adjusting to playing alongside LeBron James is a challenge for any player, especially a player who's made his career as a dominant on-ball All-Star. For Russ, it wasn't just his on-court struggles in LA. Throwing Frank Vogel under the bus in his exit interview, battling the media, and sounding off on fans jeering him with "Westbrick" only added to a frustrating debut season with the Lakers.
Despite the Westbrook-Lakers situation that was recently deemed "untenable" by veteran NBA reporter David Aldridge, Victor Oladipo believes that both he and his former Thunder teammate are set for big bounce back seasons.
“Right now, we on the same wavelength. When I say that, you said it best. You have to sit down and talk to him to understand where he’s at, but he’s there.”
Back in July, Oladipo and Russ used the caption "The Revenge Tour Continues" for a picture of the two walking into a gym for a workout.
Oladipo has played just 60 games over the last three seasons due to injury, but was a valuable rotation player in the Heat's playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals in the playoffs. He inked a two-year deal with a player option this summer.
Westbrook's revenge on the other hand isn't about proving he can stay healthy. In fact, Russ lead the Lakers team in games played (78) and had LA not been eliminated from the playoff picture, would've played in the team's final three games to finish with 81 games to his name.
Now, whether or not Westbrook's "revenge tour" is with the Lakers, Pacers, Nets, or elsewhere, is anyone's guess, but you can bet that Russ wants to prove that he can still perform at a high level for a team in his age 34 season.
