In a situation of failure at the Lakers, Russell Westbrook once thought he had to pack his bags at the dawn of the trade deadline. Finally retained, he now knows the members of the franchise who demanded his departure!
Seeing him arrive last summer in his hometown of Los Angeles, Lakers fans hoped that Russell Westbrook would manage to adapt to this new context, unprecedented for him, whether on or off the pitch. It is clear that their hopes were in vain. Seven months following his arrival, the star leader acts as a scapegoat, mainly targeted to explain the bad season of the franchise.
Obviously, Russ fails to express his full potential as a second ball-handler, in the shadow of LeBron James. Likewise, it does not seem to thrive in the sometimes anxiety-provoking climate of a large market such as Purple & Gold. All of these elements almost caused his departure in February, while his leaders showed themselves ready to transfer him!
The anti-Westbrook revealed to the Lakers, point of no return reached?
A few hours before the trade deadline, a trade involving Westbrook almost ended between Lakers and Rockets. Before being aborted by the LA front office, he nevertheless had many supporters within the team. The identity of the latter has just been revealed by Bill Oram and Sam Amick, in their latest paper for The Athletic !
Sources say the coaching staff pushed unsuccessfully for Westbrook to be traded before the Feb. 10 trade deadline, before the Lakers passed up the opportunity to get John Wall back, in part because of draft picks that he won. should have been included in the deal. There were also significant concerns that Wall hadn’t played this season, and therefore did not inspire confidence in his ability to help the Lakers turn the tide of their season.
Some Angelinos coaches would therefore have viewed the Brodie trade favorably, and pressured their superiors to intervene. In the end, nothing happened, which logically leaves the franchise in a thorny situation!
Now, it looks like the friction between Westbrook and the coaching staff has gotten worse. Sources confirm the recent increase in tensions between Westbrook and the coaching staff, which were reported by Marc Stein. For one night, Westbrook’s 20 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and +/- +13 once morest the Warriors reminded us that he was capable of being part of the solution. But this performance was an anomaly to say the least.
Atmosphere in the City of Angels…
Far from being unanimous at the Lakers, Russell Westbrook would have seen some of his coaches plead for his departure a few weeks ago. No wonder, therefore, that he no longer gets along with part of Frank Vogel’s staff!
