About midway through the 2021-22 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers are struggling with a 21-21 record, and the scapegoat for many fans has been star point guard Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook had a constructive response when he was asked about how he deals with the ample criticism he has received.
“I think, for me, I look at it in a positive way, and I look at it like this: Since I’ve been in the league, every arena, fans, whoever, the jokes…whatever it is that it may be, I take it as a compliment because if I wasn’t out here, and I hadn’t done anything in this game, they wouldn’t even pay no mind to what I’m doing and how I’m doing it,” said Westbrook.
The Lakers traded three productive role players in Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell to get Westbrook last summer.
He has played well a good deal of the time this season, but he is currently in the midst of an offensive slump.
On Wednesday, the Lakers blew a double-digit lead and lost to the Sacramento Kings, and Westbrook was one of the culprits, as he shot just 2-of-14 from the field and missed all five of his 3-point attempts.
On the bright side, he has done a remarkable job of limiting his turnovers in the last four games.
The Lakers have reportedly been putting out feelers on potentially trading Westbrook, but it doesn’t appear they are actually serious about dealing the perennial All-Star.
The fact that he is owed over $47 million next season (if he opts into the final year on his contract) will make it very difficult to pull off a trade, even if L.A. gets serious about doing so.
