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WestBRICK.
**LA LAKERS THREAD** Sitting on 17! 2023-2024 offseason begins
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Walking with Westbrook: Why the Lakers star isn’t letting his struggles steal his joy
Hollywood has its history of producing thespians, so maybe Russell Westbrook was merely acting as he took a slow walk down the tunnel of the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento late Wednesday night.
The Lakers star had just finished his latest unflattering shift at the office, a cold-as-ice night in a loss to the lowly Kings that inspired the brutally honest admission that he “can’t make a ****ing shot” of late, when he headed for the exits in the most curious of moods. All this scrutiny that surrounds him, with so many people wondering why the Lakers added the Why Not? guy last summer and rival teams recently revealing that there was some internal regret about the choice, yet here he was sporting the kind of smile that belied the mood of the moment and, for that matter, the all-black outfit he’d chosen to wear.
This kid from Compton Avenue who is now a 33-year-old man, the Triple Double King and future Hall of Famer who is struggling so mightily to find his way with the hometown team he’d always dreamed of joining, wants you to know the truth about why he’s still happy to be in Laker Land. And while some fans may not like the answer, especially considering the Lakers (21-21) look nothing like a title contender these days and Westbrook is widely seen as the primary reason why, his reasoning has absolutely nothing to do with basketball.
“Yeah, man, (he’s happy because) I get to see my kids, my family, my mom, my dad,” he told The Athletic while he headed for the team bus. “To me, that’s more important than anything else. I’m able to be home and be able to embrace them. They get to see me, and as they get older I get to see my kids every day and take them to school every morning. To me, that brings joy.”
The sequence of events that led to our conversation was quite unique. For starters, Westbrook had been surprisingly forthcoming, insightful and even humorous during his postgame news conference with the handful of reporters who were on hand. That’s not his chosen style in most interview sessions, let alone one that took place during one of the worst stretches of his famed career.
The last time I’d taken part in one of these types of sessions, back when Westbrook was a minus-23 in his Lakers debut against Golden State at (then) Staples Center on Oct. 19, he brooded afterward in the kind of way that tends to make a room shrink. It was LeBron James, if you remember, imploring Westbrook to take solace in the fact that he could go home and hug his kids that night.
Truth be told, it was this prickly personal history that had even inspired a disagreement among reporters after the Kings game about whether it was worthwhile, or wise even, to request Westbrook’s participation in the latest media session. Yet next thing you know, from the formal press conference that was aired for all the world to see to a brief side discussion with reporters afterward to our chat in the hallway afterward, it was as if he was making a run at the Magic Johnson award that goes to the most media-friendly (high-profile) player every year. And if Westbrook was acting, this was an Oscar-worthy performance.
Narrator’s voice: He wasn’t acting.
“I swear, nobody can imagine it for me because everybody thinks about basketball as the end-all-be-all, but it’s really not, you know?” he continued. “Sportswriters, everybody’s got their own opinion. But I really believe that me being able to do (be in LA) and embrace my kids, it makes them — it puts a smile on my face regardless of what’s happening now.”
So while the Lakers may have had second thoughts about this pairing, in other words, he has not.
“No,” he said when asked if he had any regrets about the move. “Nah. I mean, not at all, because — like I told you — it’s bigger than basketball for me.”
The family component is clearly the saving grace for Westbrook’s spirit. Playing in LA means having his loved ones close by in this place where he rose to prominence at Leuzinger High and UCLA, and where he’s still holding out hope of a storybook finish in these next few months.
There are his parents, Russell and Shannon, his wife, Nina Westbrook, and their three young kids (older son Noah and twin daughters Jordyn and Skye). Take one glance at their latest Christmas picture — the one with the silly faces, the beautiful tree and blessings all around — and it’s easy to see that these claims of bliss and peacefulness are indeed very real.
But when it comes to the day job, Westbrook knows that there’s no running from the reality that his stature — and more specifically, his salary — has everything to do with the criticism that will continue to come his way unless the Lakers pull off a miraculous turnaround here. With annual earnings of $44,211,146 this season, he’s the league’s fourth-highest paid player behind Steph Curry, James Harden and John Wall. James ($41,180,544) is sixth and Davis is 15th ($35,631,360).
Enormous pay-days have always come with hefty expectations in pro sports, and so it is that the Lakers’ struggles have mostly fallen at his feet. After all, as the thinking goes for so many fans, James and Davis already showed they could win a title in 2020. Unless Westbrook can show that his presence takes them to a new level, then the wrath will most certainly continue. Yet by any measure, that has simply not been the case.
It was fair to assume that his individual production would decline because of the choice to join two other stars. Sure enough, Westbrook is averaging 18.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 8.1 assists while playing more minutes than any other player in the league so far. But the Lakers’ net rating is better when he’s off the floor (plus-0.3) than on (minus-1.9), with the offense marginally better and the defense significantly worse. Davis’ recent absence has only compounded the problems, as the Lakers have lost seven of 12 games since he sprained his MCL.
To hear Westbrook and James tell it, there’s a human element that is proving quite problematic at the moment. They all agreed to sacrifice back in the summer, when Westbrook came to James’ house and discussed these sorts of things before the deal with Washington went down. But as is always the case in situations like these, those choices are always easier to stomach when they lead to success that everyone can enjoy. The losing, however, has a tendency to complicate matters on that front.
“We’re all trying to figure it out as a team, as a unit, to be able to say, ‘Ok, how can we figure this out?’” Westbrook said in our chat. “And I know I’m the one who has got to make the biggest sacrifice — and I understand that — so I’ve got to be able to figure out a way to be able to make the best out of it and make the best for this team and that’s it.”
Watch Westbrook closely on any given night, and you might see the frustration get the best of him. He’ll sit by himself on the bench while Lakers coach Frank Vogel gathers the team during a timeout, or camp out in the corner when the play doesn’t call for the ball to be in his hands. When asked recently about the way he has been used, he described it as “all over the place” and said “my job changes every night.” Hence the discomfort.
“Trying to figure it out,” he told me. “I mean, we still don’t have the answer. We done changed the way we play a couple times (laughs). Just for me, it’s trying to figure out the best way to be able to implement how I play the game with this team.”
But with the trade deadline nearing on Feb. 10, what if this team decided it was done playing with him? While a deal is widely believed to be extremely unlikely, in large part, because he has a player option worth $47 million for next season, the mere fact that there has been even the mildest chatter about the Lakers showing interest in trading Westbrook made me wonder how that might sit with him.
Even with all the bigger-than-basketball benefits that came with this latest relocation, and after this choice to push his way back home in August meant he would play for his fourth team in the last four seasons, might that kind of tumult steal one’s joy?
“I never worry,” he fired back. “Do the job. Be professional. Every year, my name is in trade (rumors). It never, never, never seeps into how I approach what I do. It’s kind of what I was mentioning back there (during the press conference). I see this game so different (in terms of) how to use it to be able to impact things.
“Regardless of if (a trade) did happen or if it didn’t happen, nothing’s going to change my mentality or my purpose. I feel like I have a purpose that’s bigger than basketball and I always keep that as my forefront regardless of what happens inside of pro sports.”
Hollywood has its history of producing thespians, so maybe Russell Westbrook was merely acting as he took a slow walk down the tunnel of the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento late Wednesday night.
The Lakers star had just finished his latest unflattering shift at the office, a cold-as-ice night in a loss to the lowly Kings that inspired the brutally honest admission that he “can’t make a ****ing shot” of late, when he headed for the exits in the most curious of moods. All this scrutiny that surrounds him, with so many people wondering why the Lakers added the Why Not? guy last summer and rival teams recently revealing that there was some internal regret about the choice, yet here he was sporting the kind of smile that belied the mood of the moment and, for that matter, the all-black outfit he’d chosen to wear.
This kid from Compton Avenue who is now a 33-year-old man, the Triple Double King and future Hall of Famer who is struggling so mightily to find his way with the hometown team he’d always dreamed of joining, wants you to know the truth about why he’s still happy to be in Laker Land. And while some fans may not like the answer, especially considering the Lakers (21-21) look nothing like a title contender these days and Westbrook is widely seen as the primary reason why, his reasoning has absolutely nothing to do with basketball.
“Yeah, man, (he’s happy because) I get to see my kids, my family, my mom, my dad,” he told The Athletic while he headed for the team bus. “To me, that’s more important than anything else. I’m able to be home and be able to embrace them. They get to see me, and as they get older I get to see my kids every day and take them to school every morning. To me, that brings joy.”
The sequence of events that led to our conversation was quite unique. For starters, Westbrook had been surprisingly forthcoming, insightful and even humorous during his postgame news conference with the handful of reporters who were on hand. That’s not his chosen style in most interview sessions, let alone one that took place during one of the worst stretches of his famed career.
The last time I’d taken part in one of these types of sessions, back when Westbrook was a minus-23 in his Lakers debut against Golden State at (then) Staples Center on Oct. 19, he brooded afterward in the kind of way that tends to make a room shrink. It was LeBron James, if you remember, imploring Westbrook to take solace in the fact that he could go home and hug his kids that night.
Truth be told, it was this prickly personal history that had even inspired a disagreement among reporters after the Kings game about whether it was worthwhile, or wise even, to request Westbrook’s participation in the latest media session. Yet next thing you know, from the formal press conference that was aired for all the world to see to a brief side discussion with reporters afterward to our chat in the hallway afterward, it was as if he was making a run at the Magic Johnson award that goes to the most media-friendly (high-profile) player every year. And if Westbrook was acting, this was an Oscar-worthy performance.
Narrator’s voice: He wasn’t acting.
“I swear, nobody can imagine it for me because everybody thinks about basketball as the end-all-be-all, but it’s really not, you know?” he continued. “Sportswriters, everybody’s got their own opinion. But I really believe that me being able to do (be in LA) and embrace my kids, it makes them — it puts a smile on my face regardless of what’s happening now.”
So while the Lakers may have had second thoughts about this pairing, in other words, he has not.
“No,” he said when asked if he had any regrets about the move. “Nah. I mean, not at all, because — like I told you — it’s bigger than basketball for me.”
The family component is clearly the saving grace for Westbrook’s spirit. Playing in LA means having his loved ones close by in this place where he rose to prominence at Leuzinger High and UCLA, and where he’s still holding out hope of a storybook finish in these next few months.
There are his parents, Russell and Shannon, his wife, Nina Westbrook, and their three young kids (older son Noah and twin daughters Jordyn and Skye). Take one glance at their latest Christmas picture — the one with the silly faces, the beautiful tree and blessings all around — and it’s easy to see that these claims of bliss and peacefulness are indeed very real.
But when it comes to the day job, Westbrook knows that there’s no running from the reality that his stature — and more specifically, his salary — has everything to do with the criticism that will continue to come his way unless the Lakers pull off a miraculous turnaround here. With annual earnings of $44,211,146 this season, he’s the league’s fourth-highest paid player behind Steph Curry, James Harden and John Wall. James ($41,180,544) is sixth and Davis is 15th ($35,631,360).
Enormous pay-days have always come with hefty expectations in pro sports, and so it is that the Lakers’ struggles have mostly fallen at his feet. After all, as the thinking goes for so many fans, James and Davis already showed they could win a title in 2020. Unless Westbrook can show that his presence takes them to a new level, then the wrath will most certainly continue. Yet by any measure, that has simply not been the case.
It was fair to assume that his individual production would decline because of the choice to join two other stars. Sure enough, Westbrook is averaging 18.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 8.1 assists while playing more minutes than any other player in the league so far. But the Lakers’ net rating is better when he’s off the floor (plus-0.3) than on (minus-1.9), with the offense marginally better and the defense significantly worse. Davis’ recent absence has only compounded the problems, as the Lakers have lost seven of 12 games since he sprained his MCL.
To hear Westbrook and James tell it, there’s a human element that is proving quite problematic at the moment. They all agreed to sacrifice back in the summer, when Westbrook came to James’ house and discussed these sorts of things before the deal with Washington went down. But as is always the case in situations like these, those choices are always easier to stomach when they lead to success that everyone can enjoy. The losing, however, has a tendency to complicate matters on that front.
“We’re all trying to figure it out as a team, as a unit, to be able to say, ‘Ok, how can we figure this out?’” Westbrook said in our chat. “And I know I’m the one who has got to make the biggest sacrifice — and I understand that — so I’ve got to be able to figure out a way to be able to make the best out of it and make the best for this team and that’s it.”
Watch Westbrook closely on any given night, and you might see the frustration get the best of him. He’ll sit by himself on the bench while Lakers coach Frank Vogel gathers the team during a timeout, or camp out in the corner when the play doesn’t call for the ball to be in his hands. When asked recently about the way he has been used, he described it as “all over the place” and said “my job changes every night.” Hence the discomfort.
“Trying to figure it out,” he told me. “I mean, we still don’t have the answer. We done changed the way we play a couple times (laughs). Just for me, it’s trying to figure out the best way to be able to implement how I play the game with this team.”
But with the trade deadline nearing on Feb. 10, what if this team decided it was done playing with him? While a deal is widely believed to be extremely unlikely, in large part, because he has a player option worth $47 million for next season, the mere fact that there has been even the mildest chatter about the Lakers showing interest in trading Westbrook made me wonder how that might sit with him.
Even with all the bigger-than-basketball benefits that came with this latest relocation, and after this choice to push his way back home in August meant he would play for his fourth team in the last four seasons, might that kind of tumult steal one’s joy?
“I never worry,” he fired back. “Do the job. Be professional. Every year, my name is in trade (rumors). It never, never, never seeps into how I approach what I do. It’s kind of what I was mentioning back there (during the press conference). I see this game so different (in terms of) how to use it to be able to impact things.
“Regardless of if (a trade) did happen or if it didn’t happen, nothing’s going to change my mentality or my purpose. I feel like I have a purpose that’s bigger than basketball and I always keep that as my forefront regardless of what happens inside of pro sports.”
Westbrook really came to be a family man. LeBron and the Lakers got swindled.
darthska
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trading DH is equivalent to a panic move that sent Zubac away
Again, you want a roster spot? Just waive DJ.
But money…and there are some fans that will defend money saving moves as if you’re talking about their spouse
Again, you want a roster spot? Just waive DJ.
But money…and there are some fans that will defend money saving moves as if you’re talking about their spouse
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Gary Harris would be a good buyout candidate if we trade tht and Nunn
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It doesn't matter, Vogel is going to play Bradley over everyone anyways.
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If we trade DH before DJ...
Trade the entire franchise. These guys just make dumb choice after dumb choice.
Trade the entire franchise. These guys just make dumb choice after dumb choice.
darthska
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Sweatergawd I didn't want to get rid of him THEN and I low key think we would have been better this whole time if he was, right now, the most tenured Laker. He's just a basic, rim running center. Perfect.
-foe
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At least we had Muscala for 2 months instead smh
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I think he's been alright and was just letting the other small things heal. I just hope he comes back with the right mentality.
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Ad coming soon 
Can’t wait for the season to finally start
Can’t wait for the season to finally start
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man dont rush that man.
all we need is for him to re injure himself and we are really ****ed.
we dont need what happened last season to happen again.
all we need is for him to re injure himself and we are really ****ed.
we dont need what happened last season to happen again.
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Lobs from Russ are coming
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Russ can't wait to be replaced by another scapegoat.
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I’m all for a trade these next few weeks but if we give up tht AND our first round pick, it better only be for grant or Myles
Why? Bc you gotta think of next year. This season might be a wash soon and both of those guys can at the very least be tradable assets.
Barnes, Trent jr, Josh hart types don’t do that.
For the record I’m down on tht and so I wouldn’t want him if I’m Detroit or Indy
Why? Bc you gotta think of next year. This season might be a wash soon and both of those guys can at the very least be tradable assets.
Barnes, Trent jr, Josh hart types don’t do that.
For the record I’m down on tht and so I wouldn’t want him if I’m Detroit or Indy
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i look around the league and no team really impresses me like that. Just get to the playoffs healthy and I’ll take our chances.
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There is a growing belief among NBA circles that Sactown will be trading Harrison Barnes and Buddy Hield.
Here's one scenario posted online that's a bit intriguing:
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Harrison Barnes, Buddy Hield
Philadelphia 76ers Receive: Russell Westbrook, Davion Mitchell, 2023 Kings First-Round Pick, 2025 Kings First-Round Pick, 2026 Lakers First-Round Pick
Sacramento Kings Receive: Ben Simmons, Danny Green
Then trade DJ, Bazemore, and Ellington - all expiring contracts - to ORL for Mo Bamba
OR
THT, DJ, Bazemore, and Ellington to IND for Turner.
Time for Rob Pelinka to stop messing around and make something happen b4 other teams beat him to the punch.
Gotta change the roster ASAP, no ifs and or buts about it.
Here's one scenario posted online that's a bit intriguing:
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: Harrison Barnes, Buddy Hield
Philadelphia 76ers Receive: Russell Westbrook, Davion Mitchell, 2023 Kings First-Round Pick, 2025 Kings First-Round Pick, 2026 Lakers First-Round Pick
Sacramento Kings Receive: Ben Simmons, Danny Green
Then trade DJ, Bazemore, and Ellington - all expiring contracts - to ORL for Mo Bamba
OR
THT, DJ, Bazemore, and Ellington to IND for Turner.
Time for Rob Pelinka to stop messing around and make something happen b4 other teams beat him to the punch.
Gotta change the roster ASAP, no ifs and or buts about it.
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Gonna be a wild weekend with narcotic usage I see loll.
Teams are gonna just to help the lakers and take russ off their hands.? Especially with him being useless and expensive af. The show is stuck with that brotha til next february at the soonest.
Teams are gonna just to help the lakers and take russ off their hands.? Especially with him being useless and expensive af. The show is stuck with that brotha til next february at the soonest.
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Lol here we go again
