LeBron on Russell Westbrook: ‘To have a guy that’s reliable and can put on the uniform every single night, you have to respect that’

The Los Angeles Lakers’ 2021-22 NBA season has come to a somewhat merciful end.

After months of subpar basketball, the Lakers have missed out on the postseason entirely. The failure comes after what is considered by many to be one of the more disappointing seasons by a team in recent league history.

One player who has received a lot of the blame for that failure is former MVP Russell Westbrook. The 33-year-old was acquired by the team last offseason, but he was never able to contribute to winning basketball in a meaningful way.

Despite that, Lakers superstar LeBron James praised Westbrook in his exit interview on Monday.

Long before the 2021-22 campaign came to an end for the Lakers, trade rumors surrounding Westbrook started to swirl. In fact, there were many reports that the Lakers were exploring deals prior to the trade deadline back in February.

Westbrook and the Lakers apparently have mutual interest in parting ways this offseason, and one can only wonder what a split would look like.

On the season, Westbrook averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game in 78 contests. The numbers themselves are solid, but anyone who watched a fair number of Lakers games this season could realize that his fit on the roster was not a good one.

The Lakers finished the 2021-22 season with a 33-49 record. That was only good enough for 11th place in the Western Conference.

As for James, he’ll head into another long NBA offseason. Next season, the four-time champion will turn 38 years old.