When Russell Westbrook Told LeBron James and Lakers Team: “Just have fun. Win, lose, draw just have fun.”
Lebron’s look over to Russ will always be hilarious.
It’s a scene straight out of The Office
LeBrons face and the cut to Russ’ hand waving gestures.
You can’t convince me this is not a skit.
It really is. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are actors that study this reaction.
Tfw you realize Darvin Ham isn’t the dumbest person in the room
that would prob be Lebron who recruited Westbrook in the first place
He stopped mid word. 😐
He is like “yeah we will see about that “
🎶“*-an*d! *it was also the night that skeletons cam*e to liiiiiiife!!🎶
Up to this day I don’t understand why they agree to that Westbrook trade.
Cause the Nets superteam was looking scary
Everyone worried about the Nets, and the Nets were destroyed on their own
As were the Lakers
Maybe we really did skip the Finals only this time, they both lost
I don’t know how to explain it yet but OKC activated their sleep cell agents and it led* to their title
led
Thanks
I mean they prob win it all if they ddint lose kyrie and harden both to injuries
To be fair, for the 20something games they actually played together, you can understand the vision.
If only you fools didn’t beat the wizards in the play in we could’ve had Russ vs kd in the first round that year
At least y’all swept their bumasses in ‘22
Panic, it was pure panic
Idiotic panic at that too, Lakers weren’t even necessarily bad, just injured.
Yeah, pieces were needed but a Westbrook falling out of his prime was literally the one of the worst pieces they could add
Should have just traded Kuzma for Hield and re-signed Caruso instead of THT. Largely running it back with those minor moves would have been perfectly fine.
We were worried about KCP after his 2021 playoff run, but he was elite in the Nuggets 2023 run.
Anybody that’s worried about a role player’s performance in a series in which the stars are injured is frankly an idiot. Nobody should care that KCP can’t suddenly put the ball on the floor and drop 20 with AD out and Bron hobbled. Not to mention KCP himself was injured.
Role players in general go up and down like crazy. Their games are so subject to circumstance and low volume shooting splits. But every year we can’t help but hold referendums based on their most recent series lol. Caruso was terrible in that Suns series as well, probably why the Lakers didn’t prioritize keeping him around.
Was that really it? I can’t for the life of me understand the reasoning behind letting him walk
Certainly a contributing factor. Front offices have crazy short memories with role players. I was absolutely aghast because I could still remember the 2020 run and how Caruso ended up part of the final form of that squad (Caruso KCP Green Bron Davis is my favorite lineup ever)
Yeah, i think most people thought Lebron would lose his athleticism a bit earlier and that by getting westbrook they had a much needed ball handler and he single handedly willed the wizard to the playoffs that year too lmao
Single handedly is pushing it when he had an efficient 30 PPG scoring All NBA teammate
To be fair, Westbrook just didn’t play well with LeBron. Westbrook is ball dominant. LeBron is too but also shows the ball down.
Westbrook did fine when LeBron was out hurt though.
He didn’t do 40 million fine which is the standard he needed to live up to. It’s just fitting that after trading him they went to the WCF.
Play style matters though. Because after he got traded, he balled tf out again.
He just wasn’t a good fit for LA at the time. He’s a unique player, definitely not someone you can plug into a system and hope for the best. They should’ve thought that through, because I knew that wasn’t going to work.
they beat bums and then got swept lol don’t mean much
the atlanta hawks made the conf finals once lol
100%. We were absolutely toying with the Suns until AD got hurt. And LeBron was hurt a big chunk of the year. Everyone could see that injuries were the biggest factor, yet our front office decided it was “blow it up” mode.
Also, several guys on the roster (Marc, Trez, Wes, Ben) were out of the league almost immediately after that season. We just needed to refresh the roster with guys who weren’t on the brink of irrelevance.
Toying with the Suns how? By struggling and losing a game with a fully healthy AD?
Was headed to 3-1 before AD got hurt
That and the KD Nets looked like easy finals favorites. Unfortunately for them, Kyrie had other plans.
He led Washington on an amazing run to make the play in and playoffs the year before, but even then his stats had deteriorated. He was a high energy floor raiser on a bad team. Funny enough he had nearly identical shooting splits with the Lakers and suddenly everyone realized he was inefficient then proceeded to act like he “fell off”.
In Washington, as soon as the playoffs started it was clear he was not going to be a ceiling raiser on a good team playing the way he wanted to play. The hate in LA was overdone, but the frustration was understandable and it should have been pointed squarely at the front office.
The way I see it is who are you going to remember more?
The guy who consistently makes wide open shots or the guy who makes insane plays happen?
For all his faults, what Westbrook did at his peak was impressive and not something that even most stars could’ve done.
Westbrook at his peak was a brain dead inefficient jacked up volume point guard who could lead you to 45 wins
When they made the trade he wasn’t even at his peak, he was 33 and awful
Yeah, let’s pretend that Westbrook didn’t lead a team in the Western Conference to the playoffs while averaging a triple double.
You can pull all the stats you want to argue about it. But to players that shit is impressive and something that only a handful of players could ever have done.
Gordon Hayward also led his team to the playoffs and 51 wins that year
Westbrook was the exact player i said, he put up numbers, he did well that year, he was still inefficient and just had incredible volume on everything
Cope more
Okay, but the question is why did LeBron think having Westbrook on the team was a good idea.
And I’m saying it’s because LeBron isn’t obsessing over TS%. He wanted a guy who was willing to make big plays happen so he doesn’t have to carry a team to the playoffs.
And he remembered what Westbrook did and that’s why he wanted him on the team.
He didn’t pretend that, he literally said 45 wins. Westbrook won 47, 48, and 49 games post KD, the latter 2 years including Paul George. 2017 was impressive, but Westbrook raises a floor very high and puts a ceiling just barely above it.
Thank you. We don’t tolerate Brody slander. He dragged some ass teams to places they had no business being
Don’t forget to mention the guy is the least selfish player of his ability ever. Dude averaged the first triple double since Oscar Robertson and willingly gave up the franchise to PAUL GEORGE.
Found the box score watcher.
Braindead take from someone that never watches basketball just reddit and box scores 😴
The prior season the lakers suffered a lot of AD being made of glass and missing a lot of games. I think the thought process was to acquire an iron man in Westbrook to carry the load if needed during the regular season. Keep in mind the season prior Westbrook averaged 22-11-11. Ad was at this point still seen as a more viable outside shooter.
In hindsight, yes, but his contract is so huge that it hinders their offseason at that time.
bron wanted to prove kd wrong & get back at kyrie at the same time, that has to be the only other reason why. buddy held deal was literally completed when that shit came out
LeGm
LeBron wanted him and they wanted to keep LeBron happy. It’s not complicated.
Bron pushed for it
Wasn’t it done when Harden got sent to Brooklyn to play with Kyrie and KD?
My theory was they feared Anthony Davis’s health and wanted to have a back up star. That was the peak of Day-to-Davis and I think the FO thought they needed another star in case AD went down in the middle of a playoff run. The plan was clearly for AD to take over as Lebron aged but as that plan fell apart with ADs body, Pelinka and crew panicked.
Because the Lakers and LeBron are horrifically incompetent at team building.
Because LeBron and AD wanted it.
Westbrook at that time was still a beast. At least stats-wise
Blame LeDiddy he recruited Westbrook even tho he knew they won’t mix well
Lakers overreacted to their offensive woes in the 2021 season/playoffs. Ironically all they needed to do was add Malik Monk for vet min (who had a great season for the Lakers in 2022 amidst the Russ chaos) instead of overhauling their entire defense for Westbrook
lol this is the most mad/disgusted i ever seen lebron
Bro averaged 22/12/12 the season before…ya’ll forget about that. LeBron’s system might be good for role players but for fellow superstars it’s a career killer….Love, Bosh, Westbrook all fell to the LeBron centric system they were forced to play under, made them look like trash because LeBron out there playing for his own stats and taking opportunities away from them…then when his team invariably fails he blames them and his dumb stans lap it up
The lakers front office was looking to save face. As i remember, this was after the bubble and then the lakers front office dismantle the core letting caruso walks out and then not re-signing howard, etc. The team struggle in the regular season while other teams was improving so they acquired westbrook from the wizards.
Westbrook trolled the shit outta them 😂😂😂😂😂
Just came off a season where AD and LeBron played 60 less games than him but he was scapegoated for missing the playoffs. Knew at this point he was getting traded in a couple of weeks. Don’t blame him
Yall will never gaslight me into thinking Westbrook got scapegoated. I was there, I watched every game. He primarily played like absolute garbage especially when making 500k a game.
He also refused to change his role and was even getting into it with fans. It was a disaster and it wasn’t fun at all.
Why did you aquire him? To change his role? You’re brilliant
Muthafucka was jumping in the air and losing the ball nightly but I got these clowns trying to gaslight me into believing he wasn’t mega buns.
Ya I unfortunately watched every lakers game that year. Russ was the least efficient player in the league and routinely made blooper reels every night
He got the yips bad. Fighting with fans. Sucked to see. So many unforced errors.
He was always going to be a bad fit, Bron and the FO are to blame for having no foresight
He was garbage. I went to a few games. He was really bad and completely shook. There’s bad fit and just playing bad and he was both.
YOU acquired him! After scapegoating Kuzma, Schroeder, D Russell, etc. You scapegoat a player every season, never fails. You’re lying to yourself and lying to us all
No one plays garbage if they’re 3rd option and averaging 18/7/7. If he was often airballing wide open 3s that’s primary fans fault. home crowd were shouting him not to shot and that what caused him to play bad. Most of his lowlights are in Lakers home Court.
Lol, this is a joke right?
Yeah, because he had a shit supporting cast.
He was cooked dude.
Like your team is now?
“I know you are but what am I” type response
lol bro throwing stones in a glass house. Ask Chet how Wemby’s nuts taste.
He was the shit dude
Bro what? The lakers should’ve never got him. It definitely wasn’t a supporting cast issue. I mean, their defensive scheme against him in a playoff series was to leave him open and it worked well. That doesn’t sound like a supporting cast issue
DLo, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt must have been the fucking Heatles then to take that team from 13 seed with Westbrook to conference finals
Yeah well you put him out there with rookie Reaves and that’s it. Easily the worst team he’s played with for half the season
Lmao now you start blaming others but never blame Westbrick…
Thunder fans are hilarious these days
Why did he get traded off the 13th seed Lakers the next year and they made the conference finals then?
I don’t know but I would guess Anthony Davis missing 18 games before he was traded and only 4 after he was traded probably played a factor.
LeBron also missed 22 games that season - 11 of them pre Russ trade. He came back when the Lakers won 3 straight cause they had a chance. Anthony Davis being healthy helps a lot. He missed 60 total games when Russ was on the team.
Some of us were actually watching when it happened. The team was worse with him on the floor. The team was more successful post Westbrook trade with Bron out than they were when all 3 of Bron, AD, and Westbrook played. He looked terrible on the court. He actively threw away close games, took away from the impact of the players on the court, and forced his own negative impact onto the game. His attitude in the media, with the coaching staff, and in the locker room brought the vibes down. I can’t say anything positive about his time with the Lakers. Even the claim that he plays hard were unfounded, he gave no effort defensively and couldn’t be bothered to be active off ball to fit with Bron and AD.
My argument is that he wasn’t given a chance the first year cause of how much time they both missed. He was asked to do that and then asked to win games when they were out - and then he was thrown under the bus.
That was Russ’ first year of not being the star, so of course it was going to be an adjustment. He never got the chance to adjust with how much time the other two missed.
Can you blame Westbrook for going brain dead in multiple series taking more shots than KD, Harden (in Houston), PG and every better efficient scorer? Or is it too much for OKC fans?
I’ll never get people who can’t recognize this
Just blame KD, he improved Westbrook’s legacy so much by doing what he did, they even gave him a petty MVP for triple doubles then 1 year later they stopped caring about them
Westbrook was being called trash by Magic Johnson in the finals and was putting up 4 stinkers and one good game in the playoffs like usual but KD took the brunt of the hate
Westbrook won that MVP with uber drivers after kd left to join the 73 win warriors
Oladipo became all nba the year after if Westbrook wasn’t taking 30 shots per game he had an amazing guard that he didn’t let take shots, Steven Adams was good, Kanter was good that year, Roberson was DPOY level even if he was awful offensively, Sabonis improved right away in Indiana
And yet the backup PG on that team was still Semaj Christon. Every advance stat in 2017 demonstrates that Westbrook singlehandedly kept the team competitive but anti-Westbrook people never acknowledge nuance. Oladipo also averaged a higher FGA in 2017 than he did the prior year in Orlando.
Oladipo became all nba after learning from westbrooks work ethic. He says it himself that his break out year was because of how Westbrook gave everything 110 percent. Sabonis was a rookie. Adam’s never contributed offensively, Kanter never contributed defensively it was like they were the complete opposite of each other.
Kqgic has literally said Russ is one of the best PG’s ever. you clearly don’t know no ball. just a goofy hater
The fact that he’s willing to play for the minimum and still no team that signs him ever wants him back says a hell of a lot
Not totally denying that but actually watching the games… KD had a big issue getting separation to actually recieve the pass. There were several plays a game where they would try to run a play for KD that never materialized and Russ was the one with the ball taking the late clock bail out shots more often then not. Also, the pressure Russ put on the defense would result in offensive rebound putbacks often on missed layups from Russ.
Which series? Pull up the numbers.
cmon man i’m a lakers fan and i love russ but this is gaslighting, i watched all the games i was there lol
we came off the shortest offseason in nba history (72 days) and both injuries to our stars were freak accidents, the russ trade was a panic trade to compete with the nets big 3, russ wasn’t the sole reason the lakers were trash but he was a big part of it, the fit was atrocious, combined with the fact he was making 44 million meaning we were hard capped and he was declining athletically put us in a shitty ass situation.
Scapegoated? Just say you didn’t watch the games
Lakers missed the play in by one game and Melo played more games than LeBron
Meanwhile the Lakers $44 million dollar guard couldn’t hit a fucking layup.
the funny part is Westbrook had a better FG% at the rim on the Lakers than his OKC career
OKC fans just gaslit themselves into thinking he used to be some incredible finisher. dude has always been a brick layer
So confused with this comment/name combo
Dude was dogshit all year. Boneheaded jumpers and I can’t even count the amount of times that bruh just either lost the ball or threw it into the crowd for no reason. He’s got some of the lowest ball iq I’ve ever seen. But yea let’s talk about Melo
Lol wtf. Westbrook was fuckin terrible in his Lakers tenure. Like legit awful. I was one of the few who actually thought it might work when we acquired him. Man was I wrong. He was not the only problem, but he was the biggest problem.
I’m not saying he wasn’t a problem. I think it’s crazy though that Anthony Davis missed 60 games when Russ was on the team. LeBron missed 37. Yet Russ is the reason the team didn’t gel cause he played through his shit. He had a hamstring issue to start the first season and played through it the whole time.
Scapegoated for missing the playoffs but they literally made the playoffs every year except the one with him and they were the fucking 13 seed when they traded him at the deadline for some bench caliber players and made the conference finals.
Ya know… mission accomplished with the Kings this year. We lost a lot, we won when we didn’t really want to, and Russ kinda made it fun.
I got to catch a couple of Kings games this season and they were all fun.
Westbrook, DeRozan, Reynaud and Cardy made for some fun stretches.
Kings even had a dude named Daeqwon Plowden* popping off to end the season.
*plowden and yeah he was in contention for the “Who??” Player of the year year
Plowden straight out of the East West Bowl.
Precious Achiuwa had some good games too.
That’s what Westbrook should have been from day one, this guy you give the keys of a shitty franchise to and he makes it fun with some triple doubles, plays and not winning basketball, in his prime get you 40-45 wins and get tickets sold
Instead he was out there taking more shots than 7 foot insane scorers, hilarious player overall
After OKC he should have just bounced around as a tank commander
In the one playoff game the Wizards won that year Russ was there, he went 3⁄19 from the field but ended the night with 19/21/14. That summarizes Russ right there, my favorite player of all time.
What he did when he was on the Wizards was magical.
The kings didn’t win a lot of games.
And from that small amount of games, at least half of them was because of Russ.
[deleted]
You just said he NEVER took more shots than KD, then gave 2 scenarios where he took more shots than KD
That’s how I feel about Jordan Poole. Am I mentally ill
The whole “let’s just go out there and have fun” schtick only works when your team is actually good. When you’re struggling to build any momentum, nobody wants to hear that shit lol
I still don’t know what Lakers were thinking by blowing up the team that won the bubble championship, that was genuinely a very well-constructed roster
You should’ve read how folks were defending Westbrook when this got released. Can’t explain to them how this isn’t the scenario for that when you’re trying to get your team to lock the fuck in
Maybe it’s not what you need to win but I can’t hate on a guy for staying positive and remembering its all just a game. I just love that attitude.
Just wrong place wrong time type shit
it’s not a game it’s their careers lol
Brother they get paid millions to play the game lmao. It’s a fucking job.
It’s both
It works if you’re terrible, or great. If you’re terrible trying to be great, it really doesn’t work.
The logic was the team needed another playmaker because LeBron was getting up there in age, and needed to be able to coast in the regular season, so they needed someone who can carry the teams playmaking and offensive load for stretches
They almost had Buddy Hield, but went with Russ for that reason, and in the process they detonated their roster and destroyed their defensive identity that won them the bubble championship
They couldn’t have foreseen that LeBron would still be good for a long while, but the Russ trade cost them defense, depth, spacing and efficiency, and ultimately closed their championship window
I love the RDC skit version of this lol
can someone send it, i cant find it lol
Gotchu
Hillarious
AD did make a Punk’d style show but turns out the joke was on him
Thank you for not Rick rolling haha
That’s the first thing I thought of. I had never actually seen this original clip.
Ngl that LeBron Side-eye when Russ starts speaking is funny af
You know he was tired of Russ BS by this time
I love how Bron stops mid sentence.
Because Russ is the leader of the team, he had to show respec
That brief little double take Bron does is fucking hilarious lmao
Like the most complete opposite thing you could say at the moment lol
Lebron literally tries to say let’s go win and Russell pretty much says whatever no big deal.
Thanks magic
The Thunder should do Westbrook a solid and sign him.
Mofos keep defending him, then why dont they sign him since they love him so much 😂
Fans have no power to sign…
I think he meant to say “why don’t they want their teams to sign him”.
I wish we would so he could actually have a chance at a ring
Is Westbrook retired now?
I’m guessing it’s gonna be like Russell Wilson where he’s gonna hang around and see if any opportunities come up before ultimately retiring.
I hate this mf Westbrook more than any player in history outside of Paul Pierce
Wasn’t entirely his fault (only like 70%), but he was probably the most miserable player I’ve ever watched in a Laker uniform. The eye test was so much worse than the stats.
And to clarify, the stats were also awful
I love Russell Westbrook with all my heart
Why does this lighting make it look like it was filmed in NBA2K16?
LeBron loves those superteams
Lebron and AD went on to miss a combined 68 games that season.
Ball don’t lie
My favorite player ever
This shit is comedic perfection, the way LeBron just goes speechless and also looks over at ham in confusion after he goes yessir lmfao
Then he was out of the team next season
At the end of the day, it’s just basketball.
“Let em know” 🤣
Meanwhile LeBron always clowning around smiling on the bench when we’re losing
The trade that set us back for years. If it wasn’t for Nico, we would still be in basketball purgatory.
Fan fiction. Multiple bad moves not related to that trade. Kuz, Montrez were ass.
If LeBron didn’t hoop so well he’d be a great comedian
The NBA is entertainment. I sympathize with Westbrook and to dispel my bias: I also sympathize with every Lakers finals loss to the Celtics.
This is awesome
That’s the problem
Was sad cause it’s summer but damn thanks for this classic lmao
go hard on them dudes salute 🫡
Westbrook a better Laker than Kobe? 🤣
Russell Jerkbrook
Lol
LMAO
Russ: “Man I don’t care” LeBron: “THATS THE PROBLEM”
He was right. Lakers haven’t won anything since he left. Should have just had fun.
I mean he ain’t wrong. You gotta balance it out with wanting to win. But the two dominant things should be enjoying the competition and the desire to win. Not anxiety about losing, fucking up, missing something, getting injured, looking dumb, etc etc. Athletes in any sport who enjoy the fuck out of it play better, and often play worse once the anxiety starts to hit.
(Transitions into LeGM)
Bum
Fuck westbrick. Put our franchise back 3+ years at least.
Naw that front office did that.