The Los Angeles Lakers don’t appear to be parting ways with Russell Westbrook on good terms. Dave McMenamin (ESPN) quoted his source as describing Westbrook’s trade as “eliminating a vampire”.
“This means a vampire is sucking the blood from the dressing room,” the report stated.
The Lakers sent Westbrook along with a first-round pick and Damian Jones in return to the Utah Jazz and received im Three team trade D’Angelo Russell of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt of the Jazz.
Westbrook joined the Lakers in August 2021 as part of a five-team trade, but his time in Los Angeles was rarely one of harmony. Only after the Lakers’ historic game against Thunder, which was actually all about LeBron Jamesreports of an altercation between Lakers coach Darvin Ham and Westbrook became public.
Ham was dissatisfied that the 34-year-old stayed on the floor after being substituted instead of going quickly to the bench. Probably just a small thing, but according to the reports of the last year and a half it is one of many small things.
In 130 games as a Laker, Westbrook averaged 17.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 7.2 assists with shooting percentages of 43.4 percent from the field, 29.7 percent from beyond the three-pointer, and 66.2 percent from the free-throw line. During the current season, the 2016/17 MVP has been used almost exclusively by the bench.