Los Angeles Lakers fans have accepted the fact that Russell Westbrook is going to be on the team for at least half of the 2022-23 season as the team tries to work things out. If it does not work, which it likely won’t, Rob Pelinka can explore a trade at the deadline.
Westbrook entered this season in a precarious position as the team he plays for very obviously wanted to trade him this offseason. Westbrook is not someone to doubt himself or his own capabilities, making this an even more unique dynamic.
Despite all of the noise in the offseason with trade rumors and hearing that the Lakers had to trade away picks to move him, Westbrook has not budged on his confidence. And while confidence is typically what fans want their players to have, that is not the case here.
That is because Westbrook’s confidence is in an area where the Bolts shouldn’t want him to be confident: shooting the basketball (via Kyle Goon, Orange County Register).
"“I know I’m a good shooter, and I’m very confident in myself and my ability to shoot the basketball. Just continue working on my craft as I always have, and take good shots.”"
Lakers fans do not want Russell Westbrook to be overly confident shooting the basketball.
Obviously, Lakers fans don’t want Westbrook to doubt his ability and have second thoughts every single time he takes a three. There are going to be spots where Westbrook simply has to take a big three for the team and they want him to be confident.
But fans don’t want Westbrook to have the same confidence he has had before which inevitably leads to him taking far too many shots and shooting at a poor clip. Westbrook can tout how confident he is shooting the ball all he wants, the numbers simply disagree.
Westbrook shot 29.8% from beyond the arc last season and that was not much different from how he normally shoots. The former MVP is a career 30.5% three-point shooter with a career-high of 33%. It would be one thing if he didn’t take threes but he still takes them at a fairly high rate.
Westbrook has averaged 3.7 attempted threes per game in his career. He actually has the lowest three-point percentage in NBA history for players with at least 3.7 threes attempted per game (min 200 games played).
Lakers blindly rewarding Rob Pelinka should outrage fans
Rob Pelinka signed an extension with the Los Angeles Lakers despite taking a championship window and slamming it shut. It should outrage fans.
So as confident as he is, he still should not be taking very many three-point shots. That probably is not want Westbrook wants to hear but it is the reality.