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Russell Westbrook isn’t the only one to blame for Lakers’ horrid start

By Jason Reed

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 23: Head coach Darvin Ham of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts to the referee's call during the second half against Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena on October 23, 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 Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 23: Head coach Darvin Ham of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts to the referee's call during the second half against Portland Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena on October 23, 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 Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Lakers are off to an 0-3 start this season which has fans feeling like it is the 2021-22 season all over again. A new head coach and subbing out veteran role players for younger role players has not had the results the team was looking for thus far.

A big reason why that is the case is that Russell Westbrook is still on the roster. The Westbrook trade derailed the Lakers last season and after months of rumors and speculation, bringing him back to start the 2022-23 campaign was never going to yield good results.

Westbrook had a particularly bad sequence in the team’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday in which he pulled up for an awful mid-range jumper with 18 seconds on the shot clock and nobody near the rim to get the rebound. He missed.

With that being the key moment in the game, and Westbrook already being the fall guy, fans were absolutely outraged after the game. Rightfully so. While Westbrook has been bad and that was indeed an awful shot attempt, his struggles are hiding the bigger picture.

Russell Westbrook is not the only one to blame. This Los Angeles Lakers team stinks.

The Lakers can (and probably will) trade Russell Westbrook all they want this season, but that does not change the fact this roster simply stinks. Having Westbrook on it certainly does not make things better and you hope that they would improve substantially in a Westbrook trade because right now, Buddy Hield and Myles Turner may not be enough.

Everyone is highlighting Westbrook’s terrible mid-range jumper at the end of the game but not many people are talking about LeBron’s contested three in the previous possession that he clanked off the front iron.

That clanked three is a trend for the Lakers, who are by far the worst shooting team in the league. This should not be a surprise to the front office, who built a roster with no shooters. What could they have possibly expected?

Trading Westbrook won’t change the fact that nobody currently on the Lakers can shoot a three (trading for a three-point shooter helps). It won’t change the fact that the role players on the bench are limited in contract because of the financial situation the team put itself in with Westbrook’s contract.

It won’t change the fact that LeBron James and Anthony Davis are two of the most concerning stars in the league when it comes to injuries. It won’t change the fact that Darvin Ham is a first-year head coach who has shown promise, but also has already made some silly decisions.

Russell Westbrook definitely deserves a lot of blame but he has also become a scapegoat for something much bigger; for a team that has been a failure from an organizational standpoint from the top down.

They eventually trade Westbrook, and they will parade it around like everything is solved, but that failure will still seep through.

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