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On Monday, Lakers star Russell Westbrook told ESPN that he signed with Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management, according to Adrian Wojnarowski.
Westbrook and his longtime agent, Wasserman’s Thad Foucher, parted ways in July. In a statement to ESPN, Foucher cited “irreconcilable differences” as the primary reason for the split, suggesting that he and Westbrook were not aligned on the best move for the nine-time All-Star going forward.
“I represented Russell Westbrook for 14 years and am proud of our partnership which included a highly successful 2008 draft, a super-max contract and the only renegotiation-and-extend max contract in history,” Foucher said in the statement, per Wojnarowski. “I also supported Russell throughout his rise into a prominent fashion industry figure and recently orchestrated three successive trades on Russell’s behalf—culminating with the trade to his hometown Los Angeles Lakers.
“Each time, teams gave up valuable players and assets to acquire Russell—and each time, a new organization embraced his arrival. We did it together with grace and class.”
Foucher was Westbrook’s agent ever since he was drafted with the No. 4 pick in the 2008 NBA draft out of UCLA. Now 33, Westbrook is going into his 15th NBA season with new representation and a lot to prove. The ’17 MVP faced nonstop criticism this past season after Los Angeles finished with a 33–49 record after the trio of Westbrook, Anthony Davis and LeBron James were expected to compete for a championship.
Westbrook averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists but struggled from behind the arc and taking care of the ball. He shot just under 30% from three-point range and averaged 3.8 turnovers a game.
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