Throughout the course of his career, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is used to shouldering blame whenever his team or teammates underperform.
James himself has even said that he has big shoulders for a reason and can take the criticism. For some reason though, he is still currently getting blamed for Russell Westbrook’s failed tenure with the Lakers from 2021-23.
While LeBron played a big role in bringing Westbrook to L.A., it was clear early on that the fit wasn’t great and it was not gonna work.
Since then though, Westbrook moved on to the Los Angeles Clippers and now the Denver Nuggets. At this stage of his career, he is a bench player on a salary slightly above the minimum.
On the contrary, he was making max money with the Lakers and resisted to coming off the bench at first.
But during the Nuggets’ preseason opener in Abu Dhabi, Boston Celtics broadcaster Brian Scalabrine decided to rehash Westbrook’s time with the Lakers and put his struggles on James, who took to social media to respond:
Took a trip all the way to Abu Dhabi to be on my…..Eat some breakfast first! Anyways Brodie a LEGEND ? https://t.co/Ux3Wnl83Y5
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 5, 2024
There are a number of reasons why Westbrook didn’t work out with the Lakers and everybody deserves blame. James and Anthony Davis deserve some for lobbying for Westbrook over another star who wanted to come to L.A. like DeMar DeRozan, Rob Pelinka and the front office for making the trade, the coaching staff for not implementing correctly, and of course Westbrook himself for his poor play.
After the Lakers traded Westbrook at the 2023 deadline though, they immediately went on a run all the way to the Western Conference Finals. So it’s hard to to say Westbrook is blameless, and he would probably say the same if he reflected on his Lakers tenure.
That was multiple seasons ago though and everyone has moved on and seems to be in a better place. James and Westbrook remain close friends, but the fit on the basketball court just wasn’t there from the jump.
LeBron James not thinking about retirement
LeBron James’ current focus is on the Lakers’ 2024-25 roster and trying to get them over the hump and back into championship contention.
As he heads into his 22nd NBA season though, it would be naturally to start thinking about retirement, but that is not the case for James.
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