For the last three years, the Los Angeles Lakers have been centered around the dynamic duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
They comprise perhaps the best duo in the NBA, and it was good enough to bring home an NBA championship in 2020, their first season together.
But in the eyes of most, last summer’s Russell Westbrook trade messed up a great thing the Lakers had going for them.
They have been looking to trade Westbrook for the last several months, but nothing has happened, at least so far.
During an interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss made a very puzzling comment about Westbrook.
Via Lakers Daily:
“Despite that fact, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss recently issued an interesting message in which she called Westbrook the Lakers’ “best player” last season.
“All I can say is that, from my point of view, (Westbrook) was our best player last year,’ she told Sam Amick of The Athletic. ‘He played pretty much every single game, showed up, worked hard. You know, I would have loved to have seen what this team would have looked like if they stayed healthy. It’s really tough to win when Anthony Davis isn’t on the court. LeBron (James) was hurt a lot of the season. But Russ showed up every game and played hard every night. And, you know, I just really appreciate him for who he is and what he brings to the team.’
“Amick admitted that he ‘did a double take when Jeanie shared her viewpoint,’ and that he was among those who considered Westbrook’s first season with the team to be an ‘unmitigated disaster.’
“He later contacted Buss again to ask if she could further clarify her initial take. Unsurprisingly, there was a bit of clarification from the longtime owner.
“‘The word I should have used was “consistent,”‘ she wrote via text message. ‘He played 78 games last season.'”
Yes, Westbrook was one of the few key Lakers players who was able to avoid injury last season, and statistically, he didn’t do too bad (18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game).
But it was his poor fit with his teammates that contributed to what Amick and many others have called an unmitigated disaster of a season.
It’s anyone’s guess why Buss said what she said about Westbrook.
