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Los Angeles Lakers: 3 reasons to officially bench Russell Westbrook

Jason Reed|
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 25: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on from the bench during the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on February 25, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 25: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on from the bench during the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Crypto.com Arena on February 25, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
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Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers

2. Russell Westbrook simply cannot play next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis

The numbers don’t lie.

One of the biggest criticisms about Russell Westbrook is that he does not play a winning brand of basketball. Sure, his career numbers look good and the triple-doubles are fun but anyone that watches with a close eye, and has for the last half-decade, knows that he is not a championship-winning basketball player.

He is the ultimate floor raiser for a bad team like the Washington Wizards but his ceiling is so capped because of how he plays. It was an obvious concern before the season but the optimistic approach was to admit there would be a struggle in the playoffs but look forward to Westbrook raising the floor in the regular season and making things easier for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

It has been the opposite as Westbrook has made things worse for the star pairing. Westbrook has shared the court with LeBron James for 1012 minutes this season and when the two are on the court together the Lakers’ net rating is -1.9. AD has shared the court with Davis for 921 minutes and when they are on the court together the Lakers’ net rating is -4.3.

That might not seem that bad, but it is. The Westbrook-LeBron pairing has the second-worst net rating of any two-man pairing for LeBron this season (min. 500 minutes played). The only two-man pairing worse is, ironically, he and Davis (because Westbrook is sharing the court for most of that time as well).

The trio of LeBron, AD and Westbrook has played 355 minutes together and they have a net rating of -3.5. Again, that does not sound that bad until you compare those numbers to other examples.

During the 2019-20 season, there was not a single three-man pairing on the Lakers with both Anthony Davis and LeBron James that played 300 minutes and had a negative net rating. The worst three-man pairing with that many minutes played featured Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and had a net rating of +4.9.

That is a net rating difference of 8.4 points. That’s the difference between being the best team in the league and being a below-average team in the league.

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