Russell Westbrook's cryptic social media activity fuels Lakers exit rumors

Last Saturday, an account called Russell Westbrook Stan tweeted Westbrook’s stats with the Lakers in his last 10 games last season with this caption: “Brodie was getting into a rhythm dealing with all the injuries and lineup changes while not being used right and they want to trade him?” Westbrook liked the tweet and fans haven’t stopped talking about it.

Westbrook averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 34.3 minutes over 78 games but the Lakers went just 31-47 when he played. He was second in the league with 295 turnovers and 42nd in true shooting percentage (51.2 percent). 

Russell Westbrook wasn’t a good fit in LA

Westbrook didn’t fit next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis because he struggled to hit perimeter shots. The NBA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles shot just 29.8 percent from 3-point range and he had the sixth-worst effective field goal percentage in the NBA (47.6 percent).

Reports throughout the season said that Westbrook didn’t like when his coaches called him out during film sessions. Jovan Buha of The Athletic said in The Athletic NBA Show on July 20 that Westbrook argued when his glaring mistakes were pointed out.

“From stuff I heard last season, like during film sessions, he would, you know, push back on stuff that was very obvious of like, ‘Hey, you missed this defensive rotation.’ He did not like being the center of attention in those film sessions,” Buha explained. 

If Westbrook stays with the Lakers, he will have to earn his spot in the lineup and be more open to feedback about his game. New Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has been empowered to use Westbrook as he sees fit. Buha wrote on August 3 that Ham “will have more power to bench Westbrook down the stretch of games,” and that power “could eventually extend to removing Westbrook from the starting lineup.”