Russell Westbrook has faced a lot of criticism in his first year with the Lakers, and it doesn’t look like things will change this season. After two games, the All-Star guard is once again on the receiving end for the team’s woes.
The Purple and Gold, who are 0-2 at the start of the 2022-23 NBA season, have shown they have plenty of things to improve in offense. Their weakest area seems to be at shooting, where Westbrook has particularly struggled on Thursday’s loss to the Clippers.
Having scored only two points in 27 minutes of action, Brodie went 0-of-11 from the field while also missing all 6 three-point attempts. Even so, Paul George believes it’s not Westbrook’s fault.
Paul George says Russell Westbrook can’t be his true self in this Lakers team
“Quite frankly it’s not the team that’s geared for him, with the roster that they have. It’s got to work both ways,” George told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “He was very easily a 30-10-10 guy when he had the keys to the team. You can’t forget about that.
“I just want him to keep having that joy. Keep having that excitement that fun that’s what makes him special, the fact he can do that on a nightly basis. I hate to see that it doesn’t look like that’s there for him. But hopefully in the end it works out for him in his favor.”
George has a very fair point, as this has been a big talking point throughout Westbrook’s first season in LA. Darvin Ham looks determined to find a way to make it work, but it looks like an extremely difficult task.