In NBA terms, Russell Westbrook is well known for being something of a big mouth, and it
appears his most recent comments have upset his Los Angeles Lakers team-mate, LeBron
James.
In many ways, the latest incident was entirely avoidable but could prove to be one that
derails the recent uptick in good form shown by Darvin Ham’s team. The Lakers, who
experienced a brutal campaign in 2021-22, costing head coach Frank Vogel his job, have
recently shown what they are capable of, have won five on the bounce, and still harbor
hopes of being in the post-season shake-up.
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If the Lakers are going to pull off a turnaround, they will require LeBron James to have a
decent amount of support from his team-mates, something that has been sadly lacking over
the past 18 months.
Their most recent win came in an exciting end-to-end encounter with the Sacramento Kings,
with the Lakers winning 136-134, but it’s what happened next that has drawn the ire of many
fans and pundits.
After the game, coach Ham urged his team to ‘get greedy’ in a post-match discussion,
clearly keen for his Los Angeles side to continue their winning run. The comment was well
received by LeBron James, who had top-scored with 37 points in the game, and James
repeated the same mantra ‘Let’s get real greedy. Let’s get real greedy, man’.
Then along comes Westbrook, who changes the mood entirely, stating loudly, ‘Just keep
having fun, bro. Be happy for the next man.’ before adding, ‘Keep having fun, bro. Win, lose,
or draw, have fun’.
The comments clearly irritated LeBron, as evidenced by video footage of the incident, and
perhaps underscores the difference in style and approach between the two NBA stars.
Westbrook hasn’t proven himself during his time at the Crypto.com Arena, and many feel
that he is more of a headache and hindrance to their plans.
Suffice it to say, the Los Angeles Lakers then lost their very next game, 109-122, to the
Denver Nuggets, leaving the team with a poor 19-22 record that only looks decent due to the
fact that they started the season with a 2-10 record from their opening dozen games.
LeBron, now in his 20th season in the NBA, is aware there isn’t an awful lot left in the tank
and will not be happy at the fact that his Lakers side is so well off the pace, not least
because the four-time NBA champion is still very much delivering the goods on a personal
level.
The Lakers sit in the 12th spot in the Western Conference, two games off a place in the
‘play-in’ tournament, which may well be the only hope of making it to the play-offs.
