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Los Angeles Lakers: 3 reasons to officially bench Russell Westbrook

By 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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(Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

3. It might upset Russell Westbrook enough to leave the Los Angeles Lakers!

Russell Westbrook has a player option for the 2022-23 season and he has 47 million reasons to opt into his contract with the Lakers. He will continue to be one of the highest-paid players in the league and he knows that his days of getting a top-level contract are over.

Heck, if Westbrook were to hit the open market this offseason then his ceiling is probably the mid-level exception, Maybe there is a bad team like Orlando who simply has to get to the salary-cap floor that would pay him a high salary for one year to sell tickets but that is a massive maybe.

It makes absolutely no business sense for Westbrook to opt-out of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason. However, Westbrook seems to be a guy that really trusts in his own ability and might be a bit ignorant to how much he would actually be worth on the open market.

I mean, we have seen athletes make serious miscalculations in the past. Heck, Dennis Schroder lost even more money than Westbrook by turning down a four-year, $84 million contract last year from the Lakers.

If the Lakers tell Westbrook to go home (telling him he won’t play next year either) there is the small hope that he would let his pride get in the way and make the worse business decision so he can get out of LA.

Next. 50 greatest Lakers of all-time. dark

He has already shown huge frustration in getting benched in primetime and is not gelling well whatsoever with Laker fans. Perhaps that could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

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