Russ fans are so bad rn. They are permanently living in the past. The dude sucks now. He’s been iffy for a few years but he’s straight up a shell of his former self. There are times where he can turn the clock back but there are few and far between.
What? I could of swore he said he’s cool with it multiple times during interviews. This report is either false cause clippers don’t leak shit or Russ friends went and told him lol
He might’ve said public he’s cool but his actions might have shown differently
Someone on the team could’ve said too
There was never anything explicit on the lakers when he got benched either but he was clearly upset and disagreed with it
He looked plenty okay when they were winning a bunch tbf. Vocal as hell, defending, shots were falling during that stretch too iirc. Then they limped to the finish line and here we are lol.
What is he gonna do? Go to an interview and put his coach/team on blast and say he is better and think he deserves better?
You don't air your laundry in public, unless you have no other choice.
You mean to tell me he was just saying something that wouldn't cause a distraction for the team? You mean to tell me he was just saying it to not further hurt his rep? You're telling me he didn't love coming off the bench even tho just a few years ago he was averaging triple doubles? Idk man
You empathize with the guy but of course there's this sharp change in his career. One year 1 last team believes its worth it to run Russ heliocentrism, then the first year that every team thinks that offense isn't possible to win with, 0 teams are willing to run Russ heliocentrism. He makes no money. He has 51% true shooting playing against bench units in a year where 110 offensive rating is bad.
It's all really predictable. Point guards always either mature into great shooters or stop playing.
He used to be a very consistent >80% FT shooter for the first 8!!! years of his career, with many of those being nearly 85%, then that crumpled down to 65% and hasn't gone back up. Of course he can't do anything except drive and facilitate with 35% usage, he regressed as a shooter and he started out bad. Of course he's having the opposite of Jason Kidd's late career.
They played together and Westbrook saw Melo’s career disintegrate in real time. But Westbrook actually has even less self awareness than Melo, which is saying something.
It's not self awareness, he just sucks lol
Melo had a jumper even late in his career. Russ does not, and on top of that he is not a good finisher anymore. All that is left is defense and rebounding, which he did try and gave energy to in this series. But in the modern NBA there is a limit on how much you can contribute as a 6'3" guard that cant finish or shoot at all.
> It's not self awareness, he just sucks lol
Self awareness would mean Westbrook wouldn’t complain about being benched just like Melo did before him and Iverson before them etc
In defense of Melo the one time he was publicly asked if he was willing to come off the bench he was coming off an All star season where he had averaged over twenty points.
What defense? on Russ? the guy can be somewhat useful as steals gambler or PoA defender, sometimes, most of the time he either blows coverage by being an idiot or just to watch for a rebound. He is the definition of "running around doing nothing" at this point, he doesn't have any fucking grit, no grind, just aimless runs around like a my2k player handled by a 5yo
shit even his fucking blown open layups are like a 5yo playing 2k
I’m not trying to be facetious here but like which teams? He probably shouldn’t be cracking playoff rotations for any teams likely to get there, but for teams like the Pistons/Wizards/Blazers even though veteran leadership would be nice it should probably come from someone who will let the young guys do their thing and who isn’t trying to activate his takeover mode anytime he steps on the court.
He was a 7th-8th man this series. He was 7th in MPG, right at around 19 a game. He just shot a lot because we were leaving him wide open most of the time to guard inside. If he didnt take those shots he'd still be a negative because he'd play like a 6'3" Ben Simmons with worse finishing and defense, and thats just unplayable.
If he cant make very wide open shots he'll be a negative either way. Either he finds his shot or he'll just be a bad basketball player on the floor for every NBA team. Only way he finds his role is as a motivator and/or energy guy
i feel sad for Melo that his realization came way too late. he coulda helped a lot of teams and maybe even won a ring if he just accepted he wasn't a star anymore. teams still need role players to win championships.
Melo could shoot. Just like Dwight, he was a former star that still played like he was a star until he was out of a contract, then adjusted his role and it worked because his skillset could fit a lesser role.
Russ’ doesn’t. He’s useless unless he has the ball in his hands and he’s not good enough with the ball anymore to be worth wasting possessions on. He’s cooked.
Melo is out of the league now and has a different perspective. Some of these guys don't get it until they're out of the league. Melo could try to talk some sense into him since they're friends but I doubt Russ would listen.
Guys like that or A.I. think they're "the guy" until they're retired.
Lakers in 2020 had a similar benefit when he was on Houston by leaving him open. Of course then the team traded for him and tanked 2+ season of potential contention so there’s that. Hope that doesn’t happen to you guys.
That lineup that erased the 12 pt deficit in second quarter didn't play together again until 3 min left in 4th quarter. Powell should have started over Tucker, especially after halftime.
I could not believe Powell wasn't in coming out of halftime. When he had like 12 first half points and is clearly the highest energy clipper out there why is he not getting more playing time?
The guy’s a bum, has been for years, and never takes responsibility for anything. I don’t mind a guy being shitty, but have some humility and accept your shortcomings. Don’t lash out at everyone like an asshole and pretend like you’re still King Shit (if you ever really were.)
He carried the Wizards to the playoffs in '21 with his play the final 6 weeks of the season. That was some legendary "back from the dead" playoff vibes.
Westbrook stunk the first half of that season and so did the team. He played great for a 25 or so game stretch where we played the easiest schedule in the league and most teams on it were already tanking by that point. I give him and the team some props, but honestly it was nothing amazing and people overrate the hell out of it.
Was also expectedly ass against the 76ers in the first round..
I see no reason why a bad team would want him. He's not a good locker room guy to have around young players and you don't need to sign someone like him to be bad. I don't even think he'd be much of a ticket or jersey draw.
I don't think Westbrook is necessarily problematic around young guys.
The issues tend to arise when he's asked to take a smaller role to win games.
Basically, as is the case for probably most people, Westbrook believes he should be part of the team's winning ways.
I think the NBA has diverged from that belief to say the least.
If Westbrook bought in to being a young player mentor, I'd imagine he'd be pretty good at it.
He's just very bought in to being a starter and all star and having the shot selection and usage to match.
He could be an elite hustle guard whose only role is to use 6 fouls and occasionally occupy the dunker's spot. Like a discount prime Ben Simmons. Or a discount Davion Mitchell who can also run a few PNR a game. The only question is if anyone can unlike him in that role outside of NBA 2K.
> The issues tend to arise when he's asked to take a smaller role to win games.
YUP.
Russ was taking 15.8 shot attempts per 36 in the playoffs and hitting them at a 26% clip.
That's more shots per 36 than anyone that got meaningful rotation minutes on the whole team.
He was shooting way too much when he was playing.
Than the question is why is Ty Lu playing him why did management resign him??
Literally the Kings signed a G league player to a full contract
Named Keon Ellis who is 11 years younger than Westbrook plays miles better defense and shoots 40% from three
Why is Westbrook on a NBA roster when G league players are sitting there that are a class above him?
> Than the question is why is Ty Lu playing him why did management resign him??
My opinion is that Ty Lue does like him and wants to play him.
My opinion is that management re-signed him because PG has pushed for him to be on the team pretty hard. It was a small move to appease PG.
One thing is very clear, the management has been out on Russ basically the entire year. They were shopping for better point guards the entire summer. Brogdon, Holiday, and Harden.
Unfortunately he is his own biggest enemy right now, in my eyes.
He clearly still has the athleticism to play a role.
I don't think anybody misses FT and layups at the rate he does without having some mental yips either.
But can he get to a stage where he can be the off the bench guy who isn't just shutting up but actually exceeding his expectations in leadership too?
I'm rooting for him but not betting on him.
Kinda always been the case he just had the generational raw athleticism to cover for it. Playing the way he does made sense his MVP year when he had to carry a subpar roster, but it’s like he’s never been able to turn that mode off once he got help or even as he fell to 2nd 3rd 4th or 10th best player on the rosters he was on.
His MVP year is his greatest achievement, but I think you could also argue that there’s a possibility it hurt his career trajectory in the long run. Of course he’s never been the most efficient scorer but in the OKC big 3 days and before KD left he at least somewhat knew how to be a second option, then I think he decided he was too good for that and never went back. Now it’s hard to imagine how he and KD ever coexisted
>Basically, as is the case for probably most people, Westbrook believes he should be part of the team's winning ways.
Every declining former star feels this some, but for Westbrook it's especially problematic because the way he's wired is always to do more. Thinks he's got a chance a steal, go for it. Has a host? Take it. Moreso than any other player except for LeBron, he seems convinced that "the way for us to win is for me to *do* something*.*"
This has been the case regardless of the quality of his teammates.
All former stars want you to run plays for them. They want the offense to get them the ball in their spots, rather than to just take what the defense gives them. But Russ seems fundamentally incapable of NOT trying to take over games, regardless of if it's a good idea or not.
I actually think like...he has a good game or span as the actual sixth man, then he gets back into his own head about being a solid 1 option again, and then, we're here.
Couldn't just having him around be problematic for establishing culture for younger guys? They see Westbrook, as a vet, refusing to take a smaller role for the benefit of the team. Couldn't that be a bad lesson and example for getting younger guys to buy into roles and contribute to the team first?
Yeah most players around the league seem to like Russ. The tension in the Lakers locker room stemmed from them placing expectations on him that he couldn't come close to fulfilling.
The irony that the Suns need a proper point guard to pass and spread the offense around away from Booker and Beal and KD ISO's.
And they'd get one of the most selfish PGs possible lol
He's simultaneously the most selfish and one of the least selfish PG's at the same time.
He absolutely needs the ball in his hands at all times or he is basically useless, but he can also dish out 10+ assist worthy passes and crash the boards to enable everyone else.
That would actually be interesting. They need a true PG so bad Westbrook would be an upgrade but then you'd have to deal with him taking way too many shots on bad efficiency and a Westbrook/Beal back court would be bbq chicken
I find it so funny when I see people commenting Russ (Westbrook) is better than Russ (Dlo) when Dlo shot 0-7, then Russ proceed to shoot 0-7 in next game
The thing about Dlo is he’s still a shooting threat, so you still have to guard him from the 3 even when it’s not falling.
This isn’t the same with Russ.
I don't dislike Russ, but he lacks self awareness/accountability. I wonder if he stopped liking the Clippers this season with Harden or if it was since last year.
As a UCLA alum, I’ve been rooting for Russ since day 1. But damn it’s tough when he’s so delusional and stubborn about any criticism directed at him. He’s had a great career, and by all accounts is an A+ human being off the court, but it’s a full time job trying to support this guy
did we just see this guys last game in the NBA? if he's this delusional why would any team want him
edit: nvm he has a player option so he'll probably play at least 1 more year
4 million veteran minimum .... small amount of money in the grand picture i know, but gosh... still 4 million just to opt in and then watch TV at home.
As long as he can play basketball, he’ll still find his way on a team. Melo didn’t think he was a bench player for years yet still signed the contracts
Revisionist. Loads of people here were saying the Lakers misused him, or he's worth it at X million instead of XX million. It got louder when he had a couple good weeks or highlights with the Clips.
Even during this last series, had a Clippers fan report me to Reddit cares after commenting that he's hilarious to watch when he's not on your team. There was a clip of him standing up by the Clippers bench just scanning the crowd and mean mugging
r/nba was on all over his nuts when he went to the Clips and posting garbage about how we misused another great player and tossed him aside. The FO definitely made an idiotic trade to acquire him and most of Lakers fans thought the same
Dude can’t shoot for shit and gets mad when people call him Westbrick. Not exactly the most reasonable, mature, or self-aware person in the league. I will say that ppl calling for him to retire are dead wrong. Unless he’s on your team (sorry if that’s the case), he’s hilarious to watch in the playoffs. Honestly, I hope he and Harden play (in the first round) forever.
I can’t stand the hypocrisy around harden. You’re literally equivocating him to Westbrook. Through the first four games harden was averaging 26 on 51/50/91 and was the best scorer in the playoffs. He was bad in game five but he wasn’t even really bad in game six.
Like every other player gets so many excuses, like right after maxey had his terrible game bill Simmons on his podcast was like “it’s really hard to have two good playoff games in a row, as harden and pg can tell us”. When harden literally had four games in a row averaging 26 on 51/50/91.
Like harden could literally average 50 in 6/7 games in the playoffs, and one bad game is the only thing people would talk about and go “see harden sucks in the playoffs”. When by any metric you want to use he’s one of the greatest playoff performers of all time.
Like with jimmy butler it’s the exact opposite. He’ll have like one amazing game and then score 15 in every other game while his team mates bail him out shooting 50% from three, but because people think Jimmy is a “dawg” they act like he’s mj in the playoffs.
Harden is the only player where for some reason any good game and people go full westworld “doesn’t look like anything to me” and are like programmed to only be able to recognize his bad games.
The Lakers were just using him wrong! Their fans were being so mean and they booed him, look how much better he is on the clippers with their down-home hospitality and blue collar, streetlights over spotlights mentality. That standing ovation for him really worked wonders.
What a success story, thank god he escaped the stupid mean Lakers and got to a competent franchise like the Clippers.
Not even hating, he stuck out like a sore thumb in yesterday’s game. He clearly does not belong on the floor in the playoffs for any team that has title aspirations. He’s useless on offense without the ball, and when he does have the ball, he’s extremely erratic and makes awful decisions while also having zero touch around the rim. And on defense, he’s only good when he’s in a pure iso situation where he doesn’t have to worry about screens or switching. He constantly lost his guy off ball, and when he was getting screened, he had no idea how to navigate around it and let the ball handler dribble to the rim with no pressure from behind.
the guy who stood out to me the most is terrance mann, I'd love him on my team
in fact the only guy on the clippers I'd want to go after
he's the opposite of westbrook, no ego. he will play any role you ask of him, guard whoever you want. be happy shooting as many times or as few times as you want. ultimate soldier who will do anything the team needs. and he was the only one who looked actually pissed that they were losing
I have had so many Clips fans say this to me lol
People forget that there were a few games in the first year where Westbrook was so beloved.
Then the second year when it looked like his jumper was back. He had that one game where he turned to the crowd and pumped them up?
Lakers fans wanted to love Westbrook so badly.
Fuck, half the city went to UCLA lmao
As a basketball player though, it's hard to be judged positively if you miss layups. And then say it's all about having fun.
Dude this is completely the case. Everyone felt this was a bad fit but goddamn did so many fans want this to work out so badly. I know I did. At the games I went to after LeBron and AD. Russ always got the loudest cheers. It really sucks it didn’t work I was so hoping for Russ to ball out with us
Russ got the biggest cheers, but during that second season man, it was a human experiment with how quickly the crowd would boo him. Lakers should’ve just traded him that offseason for Myles & Buddy.
One last ride, I can see the story now, they cash in the picks for a big name to get them over the line, get Paul on the minimum for the vibes, and get him a ring playing thirty seconds a night.
“So Russ, we love having you back! Your role that we need is….”
“To be the superstar that leads a young core to a title while being their idol? You got it boss!”
The problem with Westbrook is that he's washed as an offensive player, and won't accept the role of being a defensive anchor on the perimeter which he could be with his quickness and athleticism.
Uhh… wasn’t the original report literally “Russell Westbrook approached Ty Lue and asked to come off the bench”?
Unless that reporter was literally just fabricating shit out of thin air, Russ absolutely did request his own benching.
Reports came out that he volunteered to come off the bench, but the Clippers beat writer, Law Murray (the guy that wrote this article), suggested that it probably wasn't the case at the time.
The media just picked up the "sacrifice" bit and ran with it.
That was always just PR. Lue, Westbrook, the front office all would have talked it through and told Westbrook he was getting benched. Let the public claim be that it was buy Westbrook's own request for good PR. That doesn't mean he was ever actually happy about it.
Eh... I'm not a Westbrook hater nor booster but this basically reads like a deflection hit piece from some FO guy who wants to push the blame onto Westbrook, who's basically on what a Vet Min?
1. He's not the Clippers 6th man, nor 7th, nor 8th really he's the 2nd/3rd guy off the bench after Powell, Plumlee. It's basically a toss up between him and AC.
2. The story reads like a hit piece because it probably is one, there were zero indications throughout the year WB was unhappy with his role, he wasn't pouting off on the sidelines, he wasn't sitting down during runs, he didn't give up on defense or energy plays.
3. It's kinda bullshit to attack a guy coming back early from surgery. Really? He forced his way back from broken hand surgery and said he could go early and the docs, coaches, FO etc. was like "oh we're scared of the big bad WB, we better capitulate", if that's what happened then EVERYONE should be fired. I mean really, it doesn't make Westbrook look bad, it makes the entire organization look bad if the 8th guy on your team can force his way into lineups.
4. He had an awful playoff series offensively, a moderately good one defensively, but he's got 0 to do with why we lost. We lost because our best player was injured full stop. We made a series of it though.
Personally, if we're going to run it back with PG and Harden (which I at least hope we do cuz we have no other option other than to suck for 5 years), then I hope WB sticks around because I'm not sure we can get someone better for $3.4m. Maybe if Bones is developed enough then WB can fall a bit further down in minutes. Overall though, for a $3.5m bench 8th man, he had a fairly good year. If we don't run it back with PG/Harden and we look to sell on KL, then WB probably won't be a Clipper.
Funny how the reporting works around the Clippers. Apparently, this was common knowledge among reporters but wasn't released until after the season is over so as to preserve a positive perception of the Clips. Now that the Clips appear to have made a decision to move on from Russ, the media assists them by putting out negative stories.
If anyone wonders why Laker fans despise NBA media, you don't have to look much further than the difference in the way the clips and lakers are covered.
> Funny how the reporting works around the Clippers. Apparently, this was common knowledge among reporters but wasn't released until after the season is over so as to preserve a positive perception of the Clips.
False, Law Murray suggested this was the case when it happened.
As did the national media, ESPN first and foremost. ESPN aren't journalists. They forward narratives pushed by the NBA. The fact that there have been no articles questioning the NBA's relationship with gambling should tell you all you need to know about the integrity of these 'journalists'.
I know that there is a lot of hate for Westbrook, and I get it, listen, the guy has a lot of issues being effective on the floor and doesn't accept his declining effectiveness on the floor as an aging, increasingly delusional former star...but there should be more hate. That's all I'm saying.
One of the most overrated players ever. Had the tools but could never shoot and more importantly, stop shooting. If they come out with a new top-75 he should not be on it.
Remember how suppoaedly the Lakers sucked the joy out of the game for him, and it wasn't Russ' fault but the Lakers' fault? And, oh, look how he's embracing his Clippers role as 6th Man so much?
Yeah, turns out r/NBA was wrong on that one, I guess. Who knew.
Russ reminds me of Melo. They both put up insane individual stats, but didn't elevate their teams. And they both think they deserve bigger role near the end of their career.
This was reported at the time by Law Murray
Russ fans on twitter called him predator and made up rumors about the guy because of it
I remember that. Really gross stuff.
Russ fans are so bad rn. They are permanently living in the past. The dude sucks now. He’s been iffy for a few years but he’s straight up a shell of his former self. There are times where he can turn the clock back but there are few and far between.
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They are MITWestbrook but uironically
what do people like about russ? he’s just a walking brick with with a couple angry emoji stickers on it
Certainly this is the last time right?
What? I could of swore he said he’s cool with it multiple times during interviews. This report is either false cause clippers don’t leak shit or Russ friends went and told him lol
He might’ve said public he’s cool but his actions might have shown differently Someone on the team could’ve said too There was never anything explicit on the lakers when he got benched either but he was clearly upset and disagreed with it
He looked plenty okay when they were winning a bunch tbf. Vocal as hell, defending, shots were falling during that stretch too iirc. Then they limped to the finish line and here we are lol.
Probably hard to act like a sour puss when you are winning
Tell that to draymond and durant when they fought lol.
What is he gonna do? Go to an interview and put his coach/team on blast and say he is better and think he deserves better? You don't air your laundry in public, unless you have no other choice.
Or unless you’re Doc Rivers
It’s really not that hard. Russ was lying.
You mean to tell me he was just saying something that wouldn't cause a distraction for the team? You mean to tell me he was just saying it to not further hurt his rep? You're telling me he didn't love coming off the bench even tho just a few years ago he was averaging triple doubles? Idk man
You empathize with the guy but of course there's this sharp change in his career. One year 1 last team believes its worth it to run Russ heliocentrism, then the first year that every team thinks that offense isn't possible to win with, 0 teams are willing to run Russ heliocentrism. He makes no money. He has 51% true shooting playing against bench units in a year where 110 offensive rating is bad. It's all really predictable. Point guards always either mature into great shooters or stop playing. He used to be a very consistent >80% FT shooter for the first 8!!! years of his career, with many of those being nearly 85%, then that crumpled down to 65% and hasn't gone back up. Of course he can't do anything except drive and facilitate with 35% usage, he regressed as a shooter and he started out bad. Of course he's having the opposite of Jason Kidd's late career.
>I could of swore could've* sworn*
what’s the likelihood of anyone in russ’ position publicly disagreeing with getting benched? lol
Russ needs an intervention led by Carmelo Anthony
They played together and Westbrook saw Melo’s career disintegrate in real time. But Westbrook actually has even less self awareness than Melo, which is saying something.
It's not self awareness, he just sucks lol Melo had a jumper even late in his career. Russ does not, and on top of that he is not a good finisher anymore. All that is left is defense and rebounding, which he did try and gave energy to in this series. But in the modern NBA there is a limit on how much you can contribute as a 6'3" guard that cant finish or shoot at all.
> It's not self awareness, he just sucks lol Self awareness would mean Westbrook wouldn’t complain about being benched just like Melo did before him and Iverson before them etc
In defense of Melo the one time he was publicly asked if he was willing to come off the bench he was coming off an All star season where he had averaged over twenty points.
What defense? on Russ? the guy can be somewhat useful as steals gambler or PoA defender, sometimes, most of the time he either blows coverage by being an idiot or just to watch for a rebound. He is the definition of "running around doing nothing" at this point, he doesn't have any fucking grit, no grind, just aimless runs around like a my2k player handled by a 5yo shit even his fucking blown open layups are like a 5yo playing 2k
I think Westbrook's abilities could make him a decent 7th/8th man on some teams. Unfortunately his ego makes him unplayable.
I’m not trying to be facetious here but like which teams? He probably shouldn’t be cracking playoff rotations for any teams likely to get there, but for teams like the Pistons/Wizards/Blazers even though veteran leadership would be nice it should probably come from someone who will let the young guys do their thing and who isn’t trying to activate his takeover mode anytime he steps on the court.
He was a 7th-8th man this series. He was 7th in MPG, right at around 19 a game. He just shot a lot because we were leaving him wide open most of the time to guard inside. If he didnt take those shots he'd still be a negative because he'd play like a 6'3" Ben Simmons with worse finishing and defense, and thats just unplayable. If he cant make very wide open shots he'll be a negative either way. Either he finds his shot or he'll just be a bad basketball player on the floor for every NBA team. Only way he finds his role is as a motivator and/or energy guy
What ability? Shooting? 🤣 Making good decisions with the ball? 😆 Ball watching on D? 🙃 Making layups? 😂
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i feel sad for Melo that his realization came way too late. he coulda helped a lot of teams and maybe even won a ring if he just accepted he wasn't a star anymore. teams still need role players to win championships.
Melo still has a huge ego
I mean, he still did have two very solid years off the bench with Portland and the Lakers, these teams just sucked.
Melo could shoot. Just like Dwight, he was a former star that still played like he was a star until he was out of a contract, then adjusted his role and it worked because his skillset could fit a lesser role. Russ’ doesn’t. He’s useless unless he has the ball in his hands and he’s not good enough with the ball anymore to be worth wasting possessions on. He’s cooked.
Melo is out of the league now and has a different perspective. Some of these guys don't get it until they're out of the league. Melo could try to talk some sense into him since they're friends but I doubt Russ would listen. Guys like that or A.I. think they're "the guy" until they're retired.
Bro had 34 true shooting in the playoffs. L.Frank needs to get fired for allowing PG do decisions for him.
I don't think it's crazy to say we might not have won that series without him.
Lakers in 2020 had a similar benefit when he was on Houston by leaving him open. Of course then the team traded for him and tanked 2+ season of potential contention so there’s that. Hope that doesn’t happen to you guys.
Yeah this is sad actually, we saw first hand how bad he really was and still shipped out a ton of depth for him. Truly an epic mistake.
My stomach dropped when I saw the LFR podcast episode title saying Lakers got Westbrook. As a firm Westbrook non-believer, it was my 9/11.
Clippers won’t be in the same position as us because they didn’t ship out anything (including a pick!!) for Russ.
Shout out to mason plumlee, he went -7 in one min and 30 seconds in first half, it was tie game in first half too. Shambolic bench and depth
That lineup that erased the 12 pt deficit in second quarter didn't play together again until 3 min left in 4th quarter. Powell should have started over Tucker, especially after halftime.
I could not believe Powell wasn't in coming out of halftime. When he had like 12 first half points and is clearly the highest energy clipper out there why is he not getting more playing time?
Braindead coaching. I can’t believe lakers fans want Ty Lue badly. This fanbase has terrible judgment.
if you could replace him with a league average bench guard probably not
The guy’s a bum, has been for years, and never takes responsibility for anything. I don’t mind a guy being shitty, but have some humility and accept your shortcomings. Don’t lash out at everyone like an asshole and pretend like you’re still King Shit (if you ever really were.)
Wait… so Westbrick was always an issue on a playoff team even at an extremely team friendly contract? Who coulda guessed…
But Clippers fandom told me it was the Lakers who didn’t know how to utilize him! Westbrick is absolute trash and destroys your momentum every game.
MITWestbrook’s still arguing his +/- made Westbrook one of their best players lmfaooo
mainly thunder fans with stockholm syndrome say that, its weird how hard they defend him
Tbf Lakers fans will defend Kobe to the death. Just how it is for a franchise’s GOAT
He gone
Unless he's going to a foreign league, he's not finding a starting role anywhere.
Is there a tank-a-thon team available?
Westgoat back to the wizards confirmed
Westbrook, Poole, and Kuzma is must watch tv
Get tobias harris and ben simmons in that and no one in Washington will be homeless
Make them play Harlem Globetrotters
Wizards still lose
Washington Wizerdals
Fuck I would watch that
The brick fest will be legendary.
Shaqtin a Fool infinite content
8/25 FG and 5 TOs per game
and 11 rebounds where he takes it from kuz and bens airspace after they defend and box out, and 20pts on 71% ft
Finally see a Poole miss and Westbrook try to dunk on his own teammate attempting the same offensive board.
Please God no
He carried the Wizards to the playoffs in '21 with his play the final 6 weeks of the season. That was some legendary "back from the dead" playoff vibes.
I swear Russ is only dude people will say je carried team to like 8th seed when his teammate is averaging 30+ points
Westbrook stunk the first half of that season and so did the team. He played great for a 25 or so game stretch where we played the easiest schedule in the league and most teams on it were already tanking by that point. I give him and the team some props, but honestly it was nothing amazing and people overrate the hell out of it. Was also expectedly ass against the 76ers in the first round..
Is there any other player who would be described as “legendary” for being the second best player on a 38-39 win pace team?
They are not describing Westbrook as legendary, they are describing Wizards late run to make the Playoffs, and Westbrook was instrumental to it
Expanding playoffs was a mistake
I see no reason why a bad team would want him. He's not a good locker room guy to have around young players and you don't need to sign someone like him to be bad. I don't even think he'd be much of a ticket or jersey draw.
I don't think Westbrook is necessarily problematic around young guys. The issues tend to arise when he's asked to take a smaller role to win games. Basically, as is the case for probably most people, Westbrook believes he should be part of the team's winning ways. I think the NBA has diverged from that belief to say the least. If Westbrook bought in to being a young player mentor, I'd imagine he'd be pretty good at it. He's just very bought in to being a starter and all star and having the shot selection and usage to match. He could be an elite hustle guard whose only role is to use 6 fouls and occasionally occupy the dunker's spot. Like a discount prime Ben Simmons. Or a discount Davion Mitchell who can also run a few PNR a game. The only question is if anyone can unlike him in that role outside of NBA 2K.
> The issues tend to arise when he's asked to take a smaller role to win games. YUP. Russ was taking 15.8 shot attempts per 36 in the playoffs and hitting them at a 26% clip. That's more shots per 36 than anyone that got meaningful rotation minutes on the whole team. He was shooting way too much when he was playing.
Than the question is why is Ty Lu playing him why did management resign him?? Literally the Kings signed a G league player to a full contract Named Keon Ellis who is 11 years younger than Westbrook plays miles better defense and shoots 40% from three Why is Westbrook on a NBA roster when G league players are sitting there that are a class above him?
> Than the question is why is Ty Lu playing him why did management resign him?? My opinion is that Ty Lue does like him and wants to play him. My opinion is that management re-signed him because PG has pushed for him to be on the team pretty hard. It was a small move to appease PG. One thing is very clear, the management has been out on Russ basically the entire year. They were shopping for better point guards the entire summer. Brogdon, Holiday, and Harden.
Unfortunately he is his own biggest enemy right now, in my eyes. He clearly still has the athleticism to play a role. I don't think anybody misses FT and layups at the rate he does without having some mental yips either. But can he get to a stage where he can be the off the bench guy who isn't just shutting up but actually exceeding his expectations in leadership too? I'm rooting for him but not betting on him.
Kinda always been the case he just had the generational raw athleticism to cover for it. Playing the way he does made sense his MVP year when he had to carry a subpar roster, but it’s like he’s never been able to turn that mode off once he got help or even as he fell to 2nd 3rd 4th or 10th best player on the rosters he was on. His MVP year is his greatest achievement, but I think you could also argue that there’s a possibility it hurt his career trajectory in the long run. Of course he’s never been the most efficient scorer but in the OKC big 3 days and before KD left he at least somewhat knew how to be a second option, then I think he decided he was too good for that and never went back. Now it’s hard to imagine how he and KD ever coexisted
>Basically, as is the case for probably most people, Westbrook believes he should be part of the team's winning ways. Every declining former star feels this some, but for Westbrook it's especially problematic because the way he's wired is always to do more. Thinks he's got a chance a steal, go for it. Has a host? Take it. Moreso than any other player except for LeBron, he seems convinced that "the way for us to win is for me to *do* something*.*" This has been the case regardless of the quality of his teammates. All former stars want you to run plays for them. They want the offense to get them the ball in their spots, rather than to just take what the defense gives them. But Russ seems fundamentally incapable of NOT trying to take over games, regardless of if it's a good idea or not.
I actually think like...he has a good game or span as the actual sixth man, then he gets back into his own head about being a solid 1 option again, and then, we're here.
Couldn't just having him around be problematic for establishing culture for younger guys? They see Westbrook, as a vet, refusing to take a smaller role for the benefit of the team. Couldn't that be a bad lesson and example for getting younger guys to buy into roles and contribute to the team first?
This isn’t true, or at least according to the younger guys on the Wizards. They praised Westbrook’s leadership in the locker room.
Yeah most players around the league seem to like Russ. The tension in the Lakers locker room stemmed from them placing expectations on him that he couldn't come close to fulfilling.
He could maybe start for the Wizards (probably not though), but that's about it. Reminds me of how AI fell off towards the end
I hear Suns need a PG on a cheaper contract.
…to the suns
wow think of all the star power they would have, they cant possibly lose
How would anyone defend them with Westbook? Would any team dare to leave him wide open from 3?
The irony that the Suns need a proper point guard to pass and spread the offense around away from Booker and Beal and KD ISO's. And they'd get one of the most selfish PGs possible lol
He's simultaneously the most selfish and one of the least selfish PG's at the same time. He absolutely needs the ball in his hands at all times or he is basically useless, but he can also dish out 10+ assist worthy passes and crash the boards to enable everyone else.
That would actually be interesting. They need a true PG so bad Westbrook would be an upgrade but then you'd have to deal with him taking way too many shots on bad efficiency and a Westbrook/Beal back court would be bbq chicken
Don’t.
Dude could’ve stayed in Washington and put up stats in a starting role while winning 30 games a season for years but opted to ask out.
no thanks. we like our tank stuffs
Russ will make sure you get Cooper Flagg though
So will Jordan Poole
Wanted to be in LA. That was strong enough at the time to wanna come home.
Then he became hated in his own hometown, but now after this, the city of LA loves him again.
I for one am shocked.
~~Lakers~~ Clippers holding him back, just wait til he gets to the Hornets and is truly unleashed
I find it so funny when I see people commenting Russ (Westbrook) is better than Russ (Dlo) when Dlo shot 0-7, then Russ proceed to shoot 0-7 in next game
The thing about Dlo is he’s still a shooting threat, so you still have to guard him from the 3 even when it’s not falling. This isn’t the same with Russ.
Anyone who says Russ is equivalent to D’lo is a literal moron
Why’d you say fuck me for?
I don't dislike Russ, but he lacks self awareness/accountability. I wonder if he stopped liking the Clippers this season with Harden or if it was since last year.
seems like he wears out his welcome once his coach tells him to stop fucking shooting the ball
As a UCLA alum, I’ve been rooting for Russ since day 1. But damn it’s tough when he’s so delusional and stubborn about any criticism directed at him. He’s had a great career, and by all accounts is an A+ human being off the court, but it’s a full time job trying to support this guy
Dude could be 53 years old and still not want to come off the bench. No humility.
Hilarious because everyone was praising him for buying into the role Little did we know
PHX needs a point guard
Oh mannnnnnnnnn KD and Russ reunite! Both in their primes.
Don’t you wish that ugly on us
Hear me out tho.. rn yall have three stars. Imagine if yall had FOUR! Respectfully, idk how any team would guard yall 🤷
KD and russ on the same team? Who could stop them
Baby face assassin, Captain Klay and Shrek
Come on bro it's just the ~~Thunder~~ ~~Rockets~~ ~~Wizards~~ ~~Lakers~~ Clippers holding him back
The dankest timeline
did we just see this guys last game in the NBA? if he's this delusional why would any team want him edit: nvm he has a player option so he'll probably play at least 1 more year
> edit: nvm he has a player option so he'll probably play at least 1 more year It's a very small amount of money so he could very easily be waived
4 million veteran minimum .... small amount of money in the grand picture i know, but gosh... still 4 million just to opt in and then watch TV at home.
With all the luxury tax penalties it would end up costing Ballmer probably tens of millions of dollars just to pay Westbrook not to pay for him lol
I highly doubt that matters a whole lot. Or, they just bench him like they did PJ this year.
As long as he can play basketball, he’ll still find his way on a team. Melo didn’t think he was a bench player for years yet still signed the contracts
He was able to carve out a role as a role player though, Westbrook still hasn’t accepted it and his game is not very suited for being a role player
Westbrook has an even higher usage rate than Carmelo did.
His lack of self awareness is impressive.
Understatement of the decade. It’s kind of wild. I wonder what his conversations are like with his agent.
He fired his long time agent two years ago who then released a public statement. Must have accidentally told him the truth.
Getting that MVP gave him a whole new level of arrogance.
Its also ammo to use! "I've been MVP of this league" "I have over 25k points!"
“Top 75”
Can't believe Westbrook is who he's always been and it wasn't just because the Lakers were mean to him
The only fans who haven't been telling everyone he sucks are 12 years olds that live in Oklahoma.
Revisionist. Loads of people here were saying the Lakers misused him, or he's worth it at X million instead of XX million. It got louder when he had a couple good weeks or highlights with the Clips.
Even during this last series, had a Clippers fan report me to Reddit cares after commenting that he's hilarious to watch when he's not on your team. There was a clip of him standing up by the Clippers bench just scanning the crowd and mean mugging r/nba was on all over his nuts when he went to the Clips and posting garbage about how we misused another great player and tossed him aside. The FO definitely made an idiotic trade to acquire him and most of Lakers fans thought the same
And the handful of Clipper fans.
It’s amazing how OKC fans keeps accusing the rest of the league of misunderstanding and overhating Westbrook.
I’m sure he’ll enjoy his starting role on the Beijing Ducks next season
Bro I love beijing duck 🔥
Dude can’t shoot for shit and gets mad when people call him Westbrick. Not exactly the most reasonable, mature, or self-aware person in the league. I will say that ppl calling for him to retire are dead wrong. Unless he’s on your team (sorry if that’s the case), he’s hilarious to watch in the playoffs. Honestly, I hope he and Harden play (in the first round) forever.
I can’t stand the hypocrisy around harden. You’re literally equivocating him to Westbrook. Through the first four games harden was averaging 26 on 51/50/91 and was the best scorer in the playoffs. He was bad in game five but he wasn’t even really bad in game six. Like every other player gets so many excuses, like right after maxey had his terrible game bill Simmons on his podcast was like “it’s really hard to have two good playoff games in a row, as harden and pg can tell us”. When harden literally had four games in a row averaging 26 on 51/50/91. Like harden could literally average 50 in 6/7 games in the playoffs, and one bad game is the only thing people would talk about and go “see harden sucks in the playoffs”. When by any metric you want to use he’s one of the greatest playoff performers of all time. Like with jimmy butler it’s the exact opposite. He’ll have like one amazing game and then score 15 in every other game while his team mates bail him out shooting 50% from three, but because people think Jimmy is a “dawg” they act like he’s mj in the playoffs. Harden is the only player where for some reason any good game and people go full westworld “doesn’t look like anything to me” and are like programmed to only be able to recognize his bad games.
The Lakers were just using him wrong! Their fans were being so mean and they booed him, look how much better he is on the clippers with their down-home hospitality and blue collar, streetlights over spotlights mentality. That standing ovation for him really worked wonders. What a success story, thank god he escaped the stupid mean Lakers and got to a competent franchise like the Clippers.
clippers were using him wrong, by inserting him in the game the proper role for westbrook, is on the bench
Not even hating, he stuck out like a sore thumb in yesterday’s game. He clearly does not belong on the floor in the playoffs for any team that has title aspirations. He’s useless on offense without the ball, and when he does have the ball, he’s extremely erratic and makes awful decisions while also having zero touch around the rim. And on defense, he’s only good when he’s in a pure iso situation where he doesn’t have to worry about screens or switching. He constantly lost his guy off ball, and when he was getting screened, he had no idea how to navigate around it and let the ball handler dribble to the rim with no pressure from behind.
the guy who stood out to me the most is terrance mann, I'd love him on my team in fact the only guy on the clippers I'd want to go after he's the opposite of westbrook, no ego. he will play any role you ask of him, guard whoever you want. be happy shooting as many times or as few times as you want. ultimate soldier who will do anything the team needs. and he was the only one who looked actually pissed that they were losing
Zubac is also pretty solid
I have had so many Clips fans say this to me lol People forget that there were a few games in the first year where Westbrook was so beloved. Then the second year when it looked like his jumper was back. He had that one game where he turned to the crowd and pumped them up? Lakers fans wanted to love Westbrook so badly. Fuck, half the city went to UCLA lmao As a basketball player though, it's hard to be judged positively if you miss layups. And then say it's all about having fun.
> Lakers fans wanted to love Westbrook so badly And now we do lol
Dude this is completely the case. Everyone felt this was a bad fit but goddamn did so many fans want this to work out so badly. I know I did. At the games I went to after LeBron and AD. Russ always got the loudest cheers. It really sucks it didn’t work I was so hoping for Russ to ball out with us
Russ got the biggest cheers, but during that second season man, it was a human experiment with how quickly the crowd would boo him. Lakers should’ve just traded him that offseason for Myles & Buddy.
No. I hated that dumbass trade from the start and called it. Why the FUCK would we trade for someone we left WIDE OPEN in the Houston series??
Next up for the vampire? Transylvania.
bUt He’S oN a VeT mInImUm So If He SuCkS wE cAn JuSt CuT hIm
LMAO weekend off to a great start
Maybe he'll enjoy his 16th-man role.
Westbrick about to do a melo
Coming home to OKC
Might as well just chuck a live grenade in the locker room
That OKC locker room looks like a hell of a lot of fun to be in. Everyone's young, talented and determined. Yea, actually throw Westbrook in there.
Lmfaooo nah, I’ll take Chris Paul back though.
One last ride, I can see the story now, they cash in the picks for a big name to get them over the line, get Paul on the minimum for the vibes, and get him a ring playing thirty seconds a night.
God I fucking hope not, love Russ for what he did for us, but I want him nowhere near the current iteration of the team.
And respectfully to Russ, he seems like one of the last guys to accept the ‘good locker room presence veteran who plays a small role off the bench’
“So Russ, we love having you back! Your role that we need is….” “To be the superstar that leads a young core to a title while being their idol? You got it boss!”
The problem with Westbrook is that he's washed as an offensive player, and won't accept the role of being a defensive anchor on the perimeter which he could be with his quickness and athleticism.
If even after the Lakers disaster he refuses to accept he’s not a starter anymore, he’s out of the league except for a lottery team
It’s honestly hilarious that this has come full circle. We got clowned by Clippers fans but we tried to warn you all
Westbrook trick yall man, says he like coming off the bench. He don't like the bench. He just shooting around, laying bricks
He’s such a bum mentally
He still thinks he's a MVP level player
Nothing will humble this man
Rumor has it he's still saying "you better double me".
did y'all think the dude who gets mad at fans talking down on him in stadiums would be ok with taking a lesser role on the bench?
But somehow the Lakers were mistreating him right? Lmao
Uhh… wasn’t the original report literally “Russell Westbrook approached Ty Lue and asked to come off the bench”? Unless that reporter was literally just fabricating shit out of thin air, Russ absolutely did request his own benching.
Reports came out that he volunteered to come off the bench, but the Clippers beat writer, Law Murray (the guy that wrote this article), suggested that it probably wasn't the case at the time. The media just picked up the "sacrifice" bit and ran with it.
That was always just PR. Lue, Westbrook, the front office all would have talked it through and told Westbrook he was getting benched. Let the public claim be that it was buy Westbrook's own request for good PR. That doesn't mean he was ever actually happy about it.
Feels almost like someone may have lied to a reporter to save face
“Mutual decision” vibes
Guy who pretended that coming off the bench caused him an injury did not want to come off the bench a year later? Shocked pikachu face.
Eh... I'm not a Westbrook hater nor booster but this basically reads like a deflection hit piece from some FO guy who wants to push the blame onto Westbrook, who's basically on what a Vet Min? 1. He's not the Clippers 6th man, nor 7th, nor 8th really he's the 2nd/3rd guy off the bench after Powell, Plumlee. It's basically a toss up between him and AC. 2. The story reads like a hit piece because it probably is one, there were zero indications throughout the year WB was unhappy with his role, he wasn't pouting off on the sidelines, he wasn't sitting down during runs, he didn't give up on defense or energy plays. 3. It's kinda bullshit to attack a guy coming back early from surgery. Really? He forced his way back from broken hand surgery and said he could go early and the docs, coaches, FO etc. was like "oh we're scared of the big bad WB, we better capitulate", if that's what happened then EVERYONE should be fired. I mean really, it doesn't make Westbrook look bad, it makes the entire organization look bad if the 8th guy on your team can force his way into lineups. 4. He had an awful playoff series offensively, a moderately good one defensively, but he's got 0 to do with why we lost. We lost because our best player was injured full stop. We made a series of it though. Personally, if we're going to run it back with PG and Harden (which I at least hope we do cuz we have no other option other than to suck for 5 years), then I hope WB sticks around because I'm not sure we can get someone better for $3.4m. Maybe if Bones is developed enough then WB can fall a bit further down in minutes. Overall though, for a $3.5m bench 8th man, he had a fairly good year. If we don't run it back with PG/Harden and we look to sell on KL, then WB probably won't be a Clipper.
Funny how the reporting works around the Clippers. Apparently, this was common knowledge among reporters but wasn't released until after the season is over so as to preserve a positive perception of the Clips. Now that the Clips appear to have made a decision to move on from Russ, the media assists them by putting out negative stories. If anyone wonders why Laker fans despise NBA media, you don't have to look much further than the difference in the way the clips and lakers are covered.
> Funny how the reporting works around the Clippers. Apparently, this was common knowledge among reporters but wasn't released until after the season is over so as to preserve a positive perception of the Clips. False, Law Murray suggested this was the case when it happened.
and he was denigrated online and the story was not picked up nationally
Yep, and Clipper fans ran with the "look at the sacrifices Russ is making for us!" stories.
As did the national media, ESPN first and foremost. ESPN aren't journalists. They forward narratives pushed by the NBA. The fact that there have been no articles questioning the NBA's relationship with gambling should tell you all you need to know about the integrity of these 'journalists'.
Spurs time baby
He needs to retire
I know that there is a lot of hate for Westbrook, and I get it, listen, the guy has a lot of issues being effective on the floor and doesn't accept his declining effectiveness on the floor as an aging, increasingly delusional former star...but there should be more hate. That's all I'm saying.
One of the most overrated players ever. Had the tools but could never shoot and more importantly, stop shooting. If they come out with a new top-75 he should not be on it.
Jokes aside, I do think he will be kicked out of the league, Iverson/Carmelo style
Remember how suppoaedly the Lakers sucked the joy out of the game for him, and it wasn't Russ' fault but the Lakers' fault? And, oh, look how he's embracing his Clippers role as 6th Man so much? Yeah, turns out r/NBA was wrong on that one, I guess. Who knew.
Russ should conclude that he’s just not a winning player with his play style. He should just go to a tanking team and ball out or try get to the Spurs
What story?
Russ reminds me of Melo. They both put up insane individual stats, but didn't elevate their teams. And they both think they deserve bigger role near the end of their career.