2. Russell Westbrook
Russell Westbrook has gone from one of the most despised players on the Los Angeles Lakers to someone who is getting overrated by the fanbase. That is because the team finally made the decision to move Westbrook to the bench and have him be a spark plug for the second unit.
There is no denying that this transition has worked for Westbrook and has made him more serviceable for the team. But because of this positive change, some fans are now calling for more Westbrook, even criticizing Darvin Ham for not playing him in the fourth quarter of games.
We have an entire article detailing why Ham is absolutely correct for not playing Westbrook in crunch time and the numbers are not pretty. With Westbrook, less is more. Trust me.
Westbrook has always been an interesting case when it comes to how he is valued in the NBA. There are those that look at the box scores and see triple-doubles and call him an extremely productive player. Then there are those that watch him make countless mistakes on the defensive end and go into hero mode only to lose the game for his team.
There is no denying that Westbrook is talented. However, you can be a talented player and not play winning basketball. Westbrook does not play winning basketball. There is a reason why he has only won one playoff series since Kevin Durant left OKC despite having perhaps more help than any other star in the league.
Westbrook’s change to the bench has been great for Los Angeles but let’s not go backward and start force-feeding him in the rotation. We already saw how that panned out last season.