The Los Angeles Lakers have started the 2022-23 NBA season with an 0-3 record, and unsurprisingly, point guard Russell Westbrook has been identified as a major reason why.
So far this season, he’s averaging a measly 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He’s shooting an awful 28.9 percent from the field and 8.3 percent from beyond the arc.
It’s been ugly, and Westbrook’s former teammate Kendrick Perkins recently took a stand and declared that the Lakers need to send Westbrook home if he’s going to continue to negatively impact the team.
.@KendrickPerkins on Russ' performance:
"If [Russell Westbrook] don't be careful, he will find himself out of the league come next year." pic.twitter.com/gv4gO98eQP
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 24, 2022
“Russ’ behavior is coming cancerous to the team,” the former NBA big man said. “And we heard Darvin Ham talk about it. You know why Darvin Ham said about people in they feelings? Because when Russell Westbrook was on the bench, he was moping. He was complaining. He was chirping. He was saying little things under his breath.
“Now all of the sudden, what do you do now? You know what you do? You send him home. You send him home. You send him home until you find a place to trade — that somebody’s going to trade for him. Because right now, you can’t continue to bring him into that locker room, bring him into that facility because his attitude is going to weigh on everybody. It’s going to weigh on the coaching staff. It’s going to weigh on his teammates. It’s going to weigh on his training staff.”
Perkins also warned that Westbrook may “find himself out of the league come next year” if he’s not careful. The former NBA champ made it clear that he has lots of love for Westbrook, but he certainly spoke his mind on the current situation.
At this point, Westbrook’s fall from stardom is starting to border on truly tragic. For many years, he was a dominant force in the NBA and was considered one of the most electric players in the league.
Now, he is seen as a borderline pariah on his own team. It seems possible that his time with the Lakers will come to an end in the relatively near future.
That does not mean that all hope is completely lost, however. The Lakers are reportedly committed to working with the roster that they have until at least 20 games into the season. If Westbrook can somehow turn his performance around, he could build back a bit of his former reputation.
Sadly, that fate doesn’t seem all that likely.
