Lakers News: What Does LeBron James's Russell Westbrook Tweet Mean?
Los Angeles Lakers All-Star forward LeBron James seemingly advocated for his teammate Russell Westbrook this week, when he voiced his support for a tweet from NBA analyst and North Carolina-based basketball trainer Cuffs The Legend.
Cuffs The Legend reflected on Westbrook's many vocal detractors following an absolutely miserable 33-49 season with the Lakers, in which Westbrook's glaring issues (lack of defensive willingness, passivity without the ball, and shooting woes) helped doom an ancient Los Angeles squad.
The NBA personality seemed to suggest that commentators and fans vocalizing their displeasure with Westbrook and his role in sinking a team that had won the NBA title two years before were overdoing their critiques. Obviously, any digs beyond the court for by all accounts a good and philanthropic person are pretty uncalled-for, so that's an easy one to agree with, but Cuffs The Legend didn't dig into the nuances of which criticisms he was criticizing.
On the surface, LeBron James backing up his starting point guard seems to suggest that there's actually less friction between the less-than-dynamic duo than observers have come to expect. But, as another intrepid NBA Twitter personality pointed out, there could be a slightly different meaning behind James's message.
Take a look at the other players James appeared to cape for with prior tweets (hat to tip Ralph Mason):
So, for those keeping score, James talked up the games of ex-Lakers Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, and Talen Horton-Tucker during each player's final L.A. season -- technically, his Kuzma tweet came out 18 days before the power forward's last Lakers year started, but we feel like the broader thesis is still valid.
Was James tweeting the support disingenuously, while secretly hoping/requesting that these players could be moved for veterans he trusted more? Impossible to say. But that is exactly what happened in each case. With the advent of Patrick Beverley's arrival in Los Angeles, it certainly seems like Westbrook's time with the team will be short-lived.
