Getty Russell Westbrook
One of the greatest players in Los Angeles Lakers franchise history has urged Russell Westbrook to sign with a heated rival.
Shaquille O’Neal, who won three championships with the Lakers, told Candace Parker and Nischelle Turner that Westbrook should sign with the Los Angeles Clippers.
“I think Russ should go to the Clippers,” O’Neal said. “Him and Ty Lue speak the same language. The good thing about Ty Lue is he knows how to relate to some players. Ty Lue is going to put him in a position to succeed. Russ is the type of guy that you can’t control, but you don’t wanna control. … Russ is gonna give you the assists. He’s gonna give you energy. He’s gonna make some mistakes, but sometimes you just have to let him go. He’s not the player that you control.”
The Lakers traded Westbrook to the Utah Jazz at the NBA trade deadline. The Clippers and Chicago Bulls are interested in signing the 2016-17 MVP if he gets bought out by the Jazz, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Westbrook is expected to take his time heading into the All-Star break to decide what he plans to do for the rest of the season.
A future Hall of Famer, Westbrook is averaging 15.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists this season while shooting 41.7% from the field, 29.6% from beyond the arc and 65.5% from the free-throw line.
Shaquille O’Neal: Clippers Fans Will Appreciate Russell Westbrook
Westbrook was booed by Lakers fans at home games. He was also called “Russell Westbrick” by people on social media. O’Neal believes Clippers fans would appreciate Westbrook since the guard always plays hard.
“I know for a fact that Clippers fans would appreciate him,” O’Neal said. “Lakers fans and Clippers fans are two totally different fan bases.”
Westbrook and Clippers star small forward Paul George were teammates on the Oklahoma City Thunder. George has already been in contact with Westbrook. The Thunder went 87-58 when Westbrook and George were in the lineup from 2017-18 to 2018-19.
“I mean if there’s somebody out there, Russell, if it makes sense and obviously it goes with our team, we’re all for it,” George said on February 10. “We need a point guard. But, (at) the same (time), I think we’re good as well. If nothing happened, we got enough in this locker room to be able to make it work. But it would definitely improve our team if we had that traditional point guard to kind of get us in things and make the game easy. So hopefully Russell sees this and we figure something out.”
There Is No Traction With Russell Westbrook & the Clippers Right Now
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium said on FanDuel TV that there is no traction with Westbrook and the Clippers right now. That may be because Westbrook is still on the Jazz or the Clippers want a point guard who can shoot alongside George and Kawhi Leonard.
Westbrook is only a career 30.4% shooter from 3-point land.
“When you look at teams around the league, there’s not a spot for Russell Westbrook… It’s a slow moving market, and we’ll see if he’ll be able to find a home”
@ShamsCharania with the latest on Russell Westbrook finding a new team on #RunItBack
According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Lakers traded Westbrook to remove the vampire from the locker room. It’s possible the Clippers heard about that rumor.
“This was the time to do it,” McMenamin said on ESPN’s NBA Today. “Russell Westbrook was not gonna be part of the team after this summer when his contract expired. And also when his contract came off the books, the Lakers would have less money to deal with in the free agency period this summer. So you had to do it if you wanted to get those pieces you could have part of the team moving forward. You get younger, you got shooting, you got switchable defenders, and as one source told me, you remove a vampire from the locker room. That meaning a vampire sucks the blood out of the locker room. Russell Westbrook moves on.”