Getty Lakers guard Russell Westbrook.
Russell Westbrook has gone through a lot in his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s been booed at home games, benched in crunch time by head coach Frank Vogel and harassed by fans.
Despite all the adversity Westbrook has dealt with this season, though, he’s only missed one game and hasn’t let the turmoil and negativity affect his confidence.
After the Lakers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 21 to improve to 31-41, Westbrook explained why he never lost confidence in his game and admitted he is motivated to prove the doubters wrong who have commented on the Lakers’ woes all season long.
“Honestly for me, like I live for adversity and, you know, just negativity from people that, you know, outside-in and just constantly talking because nothing better than shutting people up,” Westbrook said after the Lakers-Cavaliers game. “There’s nothing better to like sitting back and watching people just be quiet and not talk when you kind of try to figure it out and I think that’s something our group realizes that we know that outside people are doubting what we’re able to do. Internally, like I said, super confident in our abilities to be able to score and defend at a high level.”
Westbrook still leads the NBA in turnovers and is shooting only 29.2% from beyond the arc. However, he’s scored at least 20 points in three consecutive games and the Lakers are hopeful their mercurial star has turned a corner.
Westbrook Has Played Well Last 3 Games
The Lakers are 2-1 over their last three games. Westbrook is averaging 21.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 9.7 assists while shooting 53.2% from the field and 50.0% from beyond the arc. It will be interesting to see if the one-time MVP can continue his solid play to close out the regular season and win back the hearts of Lakers fans.
“Just having, like I told you guys a couple of games ago, just having an unbelievable amount of faith and ability and sticking with that,” Westbrook said after the Cavaliers win. “You know, when you just, you know, find ways to be able to stick and land on my faith, everything else will fall in place. So as the season prolongs, I never waver. As you guys know, I’ve been consistent with my messaging all year on confidence and different things of that nature.”
Since he’s played poorly this season, Westbrook has been in a sour mood during many of his postgame press conferences. However, after the Lakers defeated the Cavaliers, the UCLA product let out a rare smile thanks to his son.
Westbrook Wore Sweater His Son Made
Westbrook wore a sweater his son made for him during his press conference with Lakers reporters following the Cavaliers game.
The future Hall of Famer smiled while he talked about the sweater.
Russell Westbrook makes sure the camera shows the sweater he’s wearing. His son drew the design and got the sweater made. Pretty cool.
Westbrook is a proud father of three kids. No matter how bad things have gone this season, he always has a smile on his face when his wife or kids are brought up.
Westbrook and the Lakers have 10 games left in the regular season. The California native has to continue to play efficiently for the LakeShow to finish the campaign off on the right foot.
The Lakers may end up trading Westbrook this summer, so if the explosive guard wants to increase his trade value, he has to keep up his recent sound play.