Former NBA champion says it's now or never for Russell Westbrook

The days go by and the Russell Westbrook experiment seems like a failure for the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s not even closing out games and isn’t doing much to help his team win when he’s on the court.

Needless to say, blaming Westbrook for the team’s terrible season would be unfair and inaccurate. But his erratic decision-making and inefficient scoring haven’t exactly helped his case with the fans.

So, now that Anthony Davis is expected to miss at least four weeks with an ankle injury, former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins urges Westbrook to prove the doubters wrong once and for all.

Kendrick Perkins Says It’s Time For Russell Westbrook To Step Up

“Russell Westbrook has to step up,” Perkins said on NBA on ESPN.“We keep talking about it, but here’s his time to shut up all the haters, all the people that said, ‘he has lost it, he’s on the decline.’ It’s his time! I wanna see some 30 point nights, I wanna see him and LeBron James be able to co-exist. He has no excuse whatsoever, AD is out of the picture he has to elevate his game. That’s what’s up for the Lakers.”

Rob Pelinka Says Westbrook Needs To Make Sacrifices

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka also believes that Westbrook should take a deep look in the mirror and realize that his game needs to change. The Lakers need a different version of him and it’s time he embraces his new role:

“I’ve had several conversations with Russ since we acquired himin a trade and I’ve really appreciated those,” Pelinka said, per Fadeaway World. “As everybody knows, Russ is a big-hearted individual. He wants to win and he knows winning with players as impactful and influential on the court as Anthony and LeBron are thatit’s going to require sacrifices in his game and how he plays. We’ve had discussions around other players that have gone through those similar processes.”

Westbrook is incredibly talented and physically gifted, and a lock to make the Hall of Fame. Hopefully, he’ll use the final stretch of the season to remind everybody just that and prove that he’s far from done.