No star has done so little with as much help as Lakers’ Russell Westbrook
By Jason Reed
It is pretty clear that the Los Angeles Lakers want to trade Russell Westbrook this offseason. Last season was a disaster for the team and the main culprit to the disaster was Westbrook himself. He does not fit this roster and is making just under $50 million.
While most NBA fans have finally caught up and realized Westbrook’s true value in the league, there are still a contingent of Westbrook fans who look at the box score and think that he is productive; that he is being unfairly judged and overlooked by harsh Lakers fans.
Anyone who watched Lakers basketball consistently last season knows how bad the Westbrook experience was. And despite the MVP award and the countless triple-doubles, this has really been the case for the last half-decade.
Westbrook’s stats were never telling the entire story. Sure, he is a great individual player and his story of rising to a top pick in the NBA Draft and earning a living that can support his grandkids’ grandkids is awesome. But when it comes down to winning basketball games, Russell Westbrook is not someone you want on your team.
No star in the NBA has done so little with as much help as Russell Westbrook has gotten both with the Lakers and before.
The Los Angeles Lakers had LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook and missed the playoffs. Let that sink in. Granted, Anthony Davis missed a big chunk of time and LeBron dealt with his injuries too, but the fact that they could not even make the play-in is absolutely absurd.
Westbrook had a ton of help and could not make the playoffs. When the dust settled, LeBron was still voted to the All-NBA Third Team and he would have been voted higher if he played more. Heck, he nearly won the scoring title.
This continues an impressive streak for Westbrook teammates. Westbrook has played with more All-NBA teammates than anyone other than Stephen Curry over the last half-decade, yet has absolutely nothing to show for it.
Bradley Beal made the All-NBA Third Team in 2020-21 and like LeBron, finished second in the scoring title race. James Harden made the All-NBA First Team in 2019-20 and led the entire league in Win Shares. Paul George made the All-NBA First Team in 2018-19 and was also named to the All-Defensive First Team. The year prior, George made the All-NBA Third Team.
Both Harden and George finished in the top three in MVP voting in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
That is five straight years in the league with an All-NBA teammate for Russell Westbrook. While it takes more than two players to win a championship, you would think that would lead to some kind of playoff success, right? Well, not really.
Westbrook’s teams never reached 50 wins in those five years (although the 2019-20 Rockets won 44 games in 72 games played. They would have had to go 6-3 in the extra nine games to win 50). And more importantly, Westbrook has only won one playoff series in that entire span.
Despite being an MVP, multiple-time All-NBA player and having an All-NBA teammate in each of the last five seasons, Westbrook has won just one playoff series since Kevin Durant left OKC. That one series was not even impressive, as the 2020 Rockets beat a Thunder team that was a surprise to even make the playoffs in seven games.
That Rockets team then got gentleman swept by the Lakers in the next round.