Victor Oladipo’s Russell Westbrook comments are terrible sign for Lakers
By Jerry Trotta
The Los Angeles Lakers have been unsuccessful with their attempts to trade Russell Westbrook this offseason. Luckily for the front office, there’s still a decent amount of time before the 2022-23 regular season gets underway.
While LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Westbrook recently met to reiterate their commitment to to the franchise, it goes without saying the Lakers need a third star — or even just a complementary piece to replace Westbrook — to improve their playoff odds.
That’s right, Lakers fans. There should be no talk of Los Angeles cutting down the nets this campaign if Westbrook is still on the roster. His style of play just isn’t conducive to playoff (or winning) basketball, as he hasn’t made it past the first round since Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City.
If the Lakers fail to offload Westbrook, it’d be best for everyone involved if the self-confident guard took a backseat to James and Davis.
Unfortunately, however, Victor Oladipo’s latest comments indicate Westbrook is out to prove his doubters wrong after a down 2021-22.
https://twitter.com/hoopsdontstop/status/1552761714034221056
Russell Westbrook viewing the upcoming season as a revenge tour is terrible news for the Lakers.
Appearing on Vince Carter’s “The VC Show”, Oladipo was adamant about he and Westbrook going on a “revenge tour” this season.
"“Me and Russ go away back . . . We played together in 2015 when he won MVP so he prepared me for the following year when I left MVP. Right now, we’re on the same wavelength,” Oladipo said, implying they’re both on a revenge tour. “When I say that, you said it best. You have to sit down and talk to him to understand where he’s at, but he’s there.”"
It’s great to see Westbrook and Oladipo, who earned a two-year, $18 million contract to return to Miami this offseason after his playoff performance, motivating each other to be great, but the latter’s comments are downright terrifying from a Lakers perspective. A motivated Russ is nothing to trifle with, but does anyone benefit from him going on a so-called revenge tour to make his haters eat crow?
If anything, the Lakers need less Westbrook on offense; not him reading every word of criticism from analysts and pundits (which is probably warranted, by the way) and going scorched earth to send a message once the season starts.
We hate to be so critical of a future Hall of Famer, but Westbrook channeling his one-man army tendencies from the post-Durant OKC era entering his age-34 season feels like a lose-lose for everyone. Not only will his critics grow more confident, but chances are the Lakers title chances will crumble, too.
We’d love nothing more than for Westbrook so silence his doubters, but he needs to learn how to do it as a role player.
