Over the last calendar year, Russell Westbrook has been made into the scapegoat for all that has gone wrong with the Los Angeles Lakers, and a good deal of the criticism he has gotten from fans has been excessive.
If one were to judge him only based on what fans have been saying about him, one may expect Westbrook to be an ogre of a teammate who always berates others and refuses to do anything to help them or even spend time with them.
However, Juan Toscano-Anderson, one of many newcomers to the Purple and Gold this season, says Westbrook is radically different from how he’s portrayed.
In fact, the forward recently said that Westbrook is actually one of the best teammates he’s ever had.
At shootaround this morning, asked Juan Toscano-Anderson about his relationship with Russell Westbrook. He was wearing Westbrook's practice jersey the other day, and his locker is next to Russ. Lot of insight here: pic.twitter.com/pSchX3W3Ri
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) October 27, 2022
It’s not like Toscano-Anderson is a stranger to healthy NBA locker rooms or unselfish teammates. He spent the last three seasons with the Golden State Warriors, perhaps the league’s model franchise and a team that won the world championship last season.
With Westbrook seemingly amenable to coming off the bench for the foreseeable future, perhaps more people who actually know him and share the same locker room with him will speak up about his positive qualities.