Russell Westbrook has been in Los Angeles for the last two years, but it feels like he’s been in a completely different place since leaving the Lakers in February. At the Clippers, the former NBA MVP is living a very different life.
Those days of struggling with the purple and gold are part of the past, since Brodie has been able to perform at his best with the crosstown rivals. In half a season with the Clippers, Westbrook felt much better than in almost two years with the Lakers.
His team lost in the playoffs, but this time he was far from being responsible. In fact, Russ did fantastic while Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were out. Now he’s a free agent, but unlike a few months back, many people are asking him to stay.
Clippers want Russell Westbrook to return next season
In the end-of-season press conference after the Clippers’ elimination from the playoffs, the team’s President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank made it abundantly clear they would love it if Westbrook re-signs with the team this offseason.
“Yeah, we want to bring Russell back,” Frank said, via ClutchPoints. “I give him a ton of credit and I think it’s a great example of when you have trust in your partnership. T-Lue, PG, and Kawhi advocated strongly for Russ. We sat down, we discussed it, we sat down with Russ, Ty Lue, and myself. And we’ve felt really, really good for what Russ was able to do and you guys get to see what he brings on the floor.
“He brings a great energy and spirit every single day to the team around the building,” he added. “And it’s good because it filled something that we needed and love when guys get second chances and just knock out of the park. And we’ve had now we’ve been very fortunate. If you think you go back to when we brought Reggie here, Nico and now Russ it, it’s great to see talented people who have a track record of high quality play.
“Obviously Russ is one of the Top 75, first ballot Hall-of-Famer, and he adapted. He basically said, ‘Hey, what do you need from me? What can I give to you?’ And when you come in with that approach, and he had to be highly adaptable because the role that we described to him when we sat down became totally different than what it was at the end. And he was willing to adapt along the way. I know, see Lou loved coaching him. Our guys loved having him as a teammate.So we’d love to bring Russ back, but he’s a free agent and that that’ll be obviously a choice he’s earned.”
Westbrook admitted he loved these months with the Clippers after suffering so much in the last couple of years. Therefore, the obvious choice for him would be to run things back with this team, though he’ll probably take his time to consider all options.