Getty Lakers stars LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook
Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James privately had issues with point guard Russell Westbrook this season, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
Although LeBron never threw Westbrook under the bus publicly, the four-time champion wasn’t pleased with how Russ played for the Lakers, who missed the play-in tournament after having the second-best odds to win the championship in the preseason.
“All season long, they (LeBron and Anthony Davis) kind of had that mantra of let Russ be Russ and they never really took shots at him. They always were publicly supportive of him, even when we were hearing behind the scenes that LeBron wasn’t necessarily the happiest with Russ and his play,” Buha said on his podcast called The Forum Club: A Show About The Los Angeles Lakers.
Westbrook appeared in 78 games for the Lakers this season. He averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists while shooting 44.4% from the field, 29.8% from beyond the arc and 66.7% from the free-throw line. The one-time MVP committed 295 turnovers and had an awful plus-minus of -211.
Lakers Players Noticed LeBron’s Body Language After Faulty Westbrook Play
Westbrook air-balled and missed so many easy shots that fans started calling him “Russell Westbrick.” According to Dan Woike and Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, LeBron’s teammates noticed his negative body language after Westbrook made mistakes.
“Midway through the season, players began to notice James’ body language after poor Westbrook play, an on-court sign of recognition that his and the Lakers’ plan wasn’t going to work,” Woike and Turner reported. “Some Lakers players were bothered by how regularly James’ shoulders would slump and how his head would hang after botched opportunities to score or defend.”
LeBron and Anthony Davis urged the Lakers’ front office to trade for Westbrook last summer. That turned out to be a terrible idea. Westbrook was a poor fit next to LeBron and Davis since he isn’t a reliable shooter. Westbrook’s true shooting percentage of 51.2% was 17th-worst in the NBA this season.
The Lakers are projected to trade Westbrook this offseason. As expected, though, LeBron had nothing negative to say about the future Hall of Famer during his exit interview with reporters.
LeBron Said He Enjoyed Playing with Westbrook
LeBron is too smart to call out a teammate in a press conference. With that said, it wasn’t surprising to hear what LBJ had to say about the Brodie during his end-of-the-season media session.
“One thing about Russ that I love and will always love is just his competitive spirit, what he brings to the game every single night,” LeBron said about Westbrook. “When you’re in a profession where so many injuries happen and so many things go on, to have a guy that’s reliable and can put on the uniform every single night, that’s something that I respect out of everything. I’m not gonna sit here and make decisions for the front office and things of that nature, but I love being a teammate with Russ and that’s just the way it is.”
Westbrook was the poster boy for the Lakers’ disastrous season since he is the highest-paid player and general manager Rob Pelinka gave up a lot to acquire him from the Washington Wizards. Although it’s not entirely Westbrook’s fault that Los Angeles was a walking disaster, it’s evident the purple and gold can’t bring him back next season since he can’t shoot from the perimeter and turns the ball over too frequently.