The Los Angeles Lakers made the biggest trade of the offseason when they acquired Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the 22nd overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
The jokes about there only being one ball, which then turned into jokes about the age of the roster, were quick to come for those that are doubting the Lakers this season. While Westbrook is an odd fit from and Xs and Os standpoint, if anyone can make it work, it is LeBron James.
Westbrook has already become a fan-favorite among Laker fans because of his LA upbringing, and let’s just be honest, it is really easy to fall in love with the way Westbrook treats every game like it is Game 7 of the NBA Finals. He is similar to Kobe Bryant in that regard and definitely holds the Mamba Mentality.
You would think that Kobe would have been Westbrook’s favorite Laker growing up. The timeline is perfect and Kobe was the best player in the league when Westbrook was a kid. But it was not Kobe, it was a surprising Laker.
Russell Westbrook’s favorite player to watch on the Los Angeles Lakers was Pau Gasol.
We cannot argue with Westbrook here. While it is shocking that Kobe is not his favorite player, Gasol definitely did play the game the right way and there is a reason why the team is retiring his no. 16 after he officially retired from basketball.
Without Gasol Kobe may have never won championship no. 4 and 5 in LA, especially when you look at some of the insane playoff games that Gasol put together. There is no denying Gasol’s importance to this franchise.
That being said, Gasol has always been viewed as the Robin to Kobe’s Batman. But hey, even though they play different positions, Westbrook has been a Robin for most of his career (to Kevin Durant, James Harden, Bradley Beal) so perhaps there is a connection in that regard.
There are also similarities between the two players. While Gasol is a forward and does things differently than Westbrook, both players pride themselves on being able to help in every asset of the game. Gasol was one of the best passing big men in the league for his era. Westbrook is perhaps the best rebounding guard of all time.
Everyone’s answer is always Kobe Bryant and while Bryant is the greatest player in franchise history, it is refreshing to see a prominent Laker, who grew up watching the Lakers, finding similarities between himself and another Lakers legend.
One thing is for certain: we hope that Westbrook can follow in Gasol’s footsteps and be the addition that helps bring multiple championships to the Los Angeles Lakers.