Lakers News: NBA Insider Rips Russell Westbrook For 'Delusional' Rant
Since the offseason began, the Lakers have publicly campaigned about how much maligned guard Russell Westbrook can still fit into the team's future plans. A key facet of the Lakers head coach interviews was asking candidates to outline how they would better utilize Russ on the court. Essentially, the organization seemed to be throwing Frank Vogel under the bus, just as Westbrook did in his exit interview.
New head coach Darvin Ham has been quoted multiple times that he believes in Westbrook and that Russ is buying into what he's selling for next season as far as changing his game.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst isn't have any of it and pointed to Russ' exit interview as a reason not to believe that the former league MVP can change his game. Windhorst was asked on First Take if Russ will change his game to "fit into LA" this coming season.
"No. ...I don't think enough people talk about this Russell Westbrook exit interview because what Russ said, and that was just a part of it, it when on for 20 minutes, was borderline delusional. Basically, what Russ did at the end of that Lakers season was take no personal accountability for how the Lakers season went down and blamed most of it on his coach, Frank Vogel for not setting things up in defining things more for him to be successful."
Windhorst also reminded folks that he didn't just play the blame game with Vogel. He also called out LeBron James and Anthony Davis for not letting him play his game. The NBA reporter believes that's all you need to know about whether or not Westbrook adapting is a valid theory.
"He partially blamed it on LeBron and Anthony Davis too where he said that they didn't change their games, when Russell himself changed almost nothing. To listen to someone talk like that, when I heard that press conference, I remember saying 'My god, this guy never had any intention of changing his game and has no intention of changing his game."
All of that only adds intrigue to next season for the Lakers and, the possibility of LA jettisoning Russell Westbrook in a potential Kyrie Irving trade.
