Lakers News: Russell Westbrook's Performance Proved Nothing For One NBA Pundit

Russ went off, but it wasn't enough for one expert.

Tuesday night showed everyone in Los Angeles why the Lakers went out and got Russell Westbrook. With a team that already featured LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Rob Pelinka flipped a couple of players to land Russ back in LA. 

Many questioned where Russ would fit in with a lineup that already had 2 stars. And that was a fair criticism for the Lakers initially. Westbrook has been the man with the ball essentially everywhere he's gone in his career. 

But with LeBron out of the lineup on Tuesday in San Antonio, Westbrook and AD took over. They combined for 68 points and were the main reason Los Angeles was able to pull out the win in overtime. 

But for one NBA pundit, that performance was not enough from Russell Westbrook. Stephen A. Smith talked on Wednesday morning about what the former UCLA standout still has to prove with Los Angeles. 

What did Russell Westbrook's performance tell us? Absolutely nothing. Nothing at all. ...The point is, when you look at Russ last night, it would have meant everything if LeBron and AD were on the court, because that;'s what you're looking at come playoff time. ...We're at a point where all we're looking for from Russ is what can you do with 2 other dynamic stars on the court? Because that's what it's going to take for a championship.

In his first 3 games with the Lakers, Westbrook averaged 12 points. Those were all played with Anthony Davis and LeBron James on the court. But he also averaged close to 9 assists per game in that span as well. 

So while the points might not be there for Stephen A. Smith, the presence is certainly felt regardless of who is in the lineup on any given night.