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After the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Los Angeles Clippers on April 5, Anthony Davis said the Lakers’ game plan was to make Russell Westbrook shoot the ball from the perimeter.
Unfortunately for Davis and Co., Westbrook — who isn’t a good jump shooter — shot the ball well against his former team.
Westbrook shot 6-of-12 from the field and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, helping the Clippers defeat the Lakers by a final score of 125-118. The NBA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles was extra pumped to go up against the Lakers, who traded him at the trade deadline. Westbrook pointed at LeBron James a few times after hitting jumpers over him.
Westbrook averaged 17.4 points, 6.9 rebounds and 7.2 assists in 130 games with the Lakers. Los Angeles went just 56-74 with the one-time MVP in the lineup. Westbrook wasn’t a good fit next to Davis and James since he’s not a reliable shooter. The UCLA product shot only 29.7% from 3 as a member of the purple and gold.
Anthony Davis on Russell Westbrook: ‘Russ Is a Really Good Dude’
After the Lakers traded Westbrook in February, Davis told reporters that Westbrook “is a really good dude.”
“But I want people to know overall, Russ is a really good dude,” Davis said. “I’ve been knowing Russ since I got in the league. We had the same agency, same agent before and me and him got really close. So, outside of all the basketball stuff or what people say about him on the floor and everything, he’s a really good dude. So, the perception on him is he’s not and he’s this and that, but I think he’s gonna be fine.”
Westbrook was booed by Lakers fans at home games and people called him “Russell Westbrick” last season on social media. In his last game with the Lakers, Westbrook got into an argument with head coach Darvin Ham. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that Westbrook and Ham had a “heated verbal exchange” in the locker room during halftime of the Oklahoma City Thunder game on February 7.
Report: Russell Westbrook Situation Became ‘Toxic’ for the Lakers
Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic reported in February that the Westbrook situation became “toxic” for the Lakers, who are 16-9 since trading Russ.
“But when Ham turned his attention to Westbrook and his specific individual struggles, sources say the future Hall of Famer appeared to take it personally. As had been the case so many times before, when the coaching staff struggled with Westbrook’s unwillingness to be held accountable for his play, Westbrook wasn’t hearing it. Ham, sources say, was upset at a number of on-court developments from the first half,” Buha and Amick wrote. “But the final straw, it seems, was Westbrook’s choice to walk off the court so slowly after he was replaced late in the second quarter. For both parties, the topic of great disagreement centered on respect — or lack thereof. In the end, with the tension in the room adding to the toxicity of their environment yet again, they agreed to disagree.”
Westbrook’s replacement, D’Angelo Russell, is averaging 17.0 points and 6.3 assists with the Lakers while shooting 39.4% from 3-point range.
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