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Russell Westbrook leaned again in his chair and laughed Monday after the Lakers’ observe, the subject material extra of a riddle than a knee-slapping joke.
How ought to Westbrook, the Lakers’ $44-million-plus funding this season, play?
Because the crew hits the halfway mark of the season in two weeks, it’s onerous to fathom that the Lakers don’t really feel any nearer to knowing that answer.
The plan all alongside, in keeping with the crew’s stars, has been to embrace Westbrook’s sport and mildew theirs round it.
“So far as Russ, we want Russ to be Russ,” LeBron James mentioned on Sept. 28 in the course of the Lakers’ media day. “We don’t want Russ to vary for anyone. That’s why we acquired him.”
But with the Lakers’ record below .500, the crew mired in a five-game shedding streak and failing the attention take a look at, is “Russ being Russ” the perfect match for the crew? Is it even occurring but?
Perhaps that’s why all that is so humorous to Westbrook. How teammates mesh together with his type of his play was the identical query requested in Oklahoma Metropolis, Houston and Washington.
“Truthfully, I’m over the entire state of affairs with what everybody else desires me to do and what they assume I ought to be doing,” Westbrook mentioned Monday, now very severe. “And I’m going to exit and simply play and do what I do greatest — and that’s compete my ass off, compete to win video games and make my teammates higher like I’ve carried out many, a few years. And I’ll proceed to try this. It’s so simple as that.
“… Persons are saying, ‘let Russ be Russ.’ I feel no person understands what meaning. I feel folks simply say it — ‘let Russ be Russ’ — however no person really is aware of what meaning however myself.”
Attempting to outline Westbrook’s sport with NBA scouts and executives shortly begins to sound like one thing you would possibly hear within the parking zone earlier than a Phish live performance, a string of round arguments that don’t have solutions and go away you hungry to maneuver on to one thing new.
Westbrook desires to be, and is proficient at, impacting a sport in some ways. He scores, he passes, he rebounds and he hustles. However whereas he’s impacting the sport in so many areas, his flaws are also transposed onto every of them.
Take the Lakers’ Christmas night loss to Brooklyn by which Westbrook missed a barrage of layups however nonetheless registered a triple-double. The best way he attacked the glass for the Lakers, a dreadful rebounding crew, keyed their rallies. He‘s all the time saved a watch on the rim, that means he’d generally lose his defensive project, like he did with the Nets’ Patty Mills on a crucial late-game three-pointer.
Westbrook additionally continued to get into the paint and problem the Nets on the rim, 100% what the Lakers need, per David Fizdale, the assistant working the crew whereas coach Frank Vogel is in COVID-19 protocols. But on a late dunk that Westbrook missed, cameras caught James within the nook of the court docket, fingers within the air, calling for the ball.
“There will likely be nights if you don’t make photographs,” Westbrook mentioned Monday. “However for me, my sport shouldn’t be predicated on if I miss and make photographs. I do different issues that affect successful, that affect the sport on nights once I don’t make photographs.”
Lakers guard Russell Westbrook guarded by Brooklyn Nets ahead James Johnson within the first half at Crypto.com Enviornment on Christmas Day.
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Instances)
The Lakers aren’t successful these days. Even after they have, they’ve hardly been spectacular.
Westbrook, who says he doesn’t take note of exterior noise however acknowledges utilizing criticism for motivation, must be keenly conscious of the scrutiny — he’s the best goal responsible with Anthony Davis harm and Vogel out.
Westbrook defended his play on Monday, saying he’s been “advantageous” regardless of not residing as much as the requirements he’s set for himself. This season he’s one among solely 4 gamers within the NBA to common a minimum of 19 factors, eight assists and 7 rebounds. Of the 4 — James Harden, LaMelo Ball and Luka Doncic are the others — Westbrook has the very best field-goal share.
However he’s turning the ball over rather a lot — 4.6 per sport — and his free-throw issues (65.6%) have continued as a part of a weird nosedive on the line, the place his profession common is 78.6%.
But most of his capturing splits are both at or above his profession averages, together with a terrific 47.6% on nook threes, a precious portion of the court docket crucial to spacing the ground. Add in that Westbrook is a infamous sluggish starter, and there’s purpose to count on some uptick within the coming months.
It’s a complicated image, his numbers suggesting that he’s enjoying effectively, however the crew not trying anyplace close to a contender on the court docket.
“None of it’s for him to determine alone,” Fizdale mentioned. “We don’t need to go away him any sort of island to determine something by himself. What we’re encouraging him to do is what he mentioned, he’s acquired to be himself. And inside that framework, good issues will come out of it.”
There may be one issue, although, that’s out of Westbrook’s management, and that’s his wage. He can’t escape from the depth the Lakers sacrificed to commerce for him and the salary-cap issues his presence alongside two different maximum-contract gamers causes, significantly for a crew that didn’t need to go deep into the tax to maintain a precious function participant like Alex Caruso.
Inside these circumstances, “advantageous” isn’t ok from Westbrook — identical to it gained’t be from Davis and James. With the present roster building, it will possibly’t be.
Russ may be Russ. Which means missed photographs, turnovers, loads of frustrations. It additionally means tons of aggressive hearth and a need to do the best factor to assist his crew win. You may’t commerce for somebody as a result of he’s relentless after which count on him to be snug relenting.
But if Russ goes to be Russ, he must be a greater model of the one Lakers followers have seen to this point. At this level of the season, if somebody urged the Lakers are the place they need or should be, you’d in all probability giggle too.
UP NEXT
at Houston
When: 5 p.m., Tuesday
On the air: TV: Spectrum SportsNet; Radio:1110, 1330
Replace: Houston is enjoying a lot better than it was when the Lakers beat the Rockets in back-to-back video games in Los Angeles, although they’ve cooled off significantly. After successful seven straight, Houston had misplaced seven of 9 getting into Monday’s sport with Charlotte. Rookie Jalen Inexperienced has returned from harm and may play Tuesday. The Lakers nonetheless are coping with the well being and security protocols, however Malik Monk’s return on Christmas gave them a pleasant spark.
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