The Los Angeles Lakers have been far from good as of late. And, while most people have blamed Russell Westbrook for their struggles, he wasnāt even on the court when they blew a game to the undermanned Portland Trail Blazers.
Frank Vogelās team has now dropped multiple games with either Westbrook on the bench or not playing at all. Needless to say, that puts the āRussell Westbrook is the problemā narrative in doubt.
Thatās why former NBA player Jamal Crawford took to Twitter to defend theOklahoma City Thunder legend. Per Crawford, the Lakersā issues go way beyond one single player and he shouldnāt be pointed at.
Los Angeles Lakers: Jamal Crawford Says Russell Westbrook Is Not The Problem
āI said a while ago, the āblame Russā narrative was an easy picture to paint. Lakers problems are deeper than that..ā Crawford tweeted.
LeBron Admits Heās Talked To Westbrook Over His Game
LeBron James has been there for Westbrook during this tough time. Per The King, heās trying his best and all he wants to do is try and help the team get some wins:
āHe wants to be better and he wants to put us in a position where we can in ballgames with him on the floor,āLeBron told the media.āHe wants to make plays. He wants to lead this team like heās capable of doing and like heās done in his career. He wants to prove to people, prove to himself that he knows he belongs on a championship ball club, or someone thatās aspiring to be a championship ball club.ā
āBut those are my guesses,ā James added.āIām not going to tell you exactly our dialogue, but those are my guesses.Because I know the person that he is. I understand that he knew, and we know, what weāre all here for. I just hat that weāre all here right now and it kind of hasnāt worked out that way two-thirds through the season.ā
Westbrook Isnāt Pleased With Frank Vogel
Westbrook hasnāt been satisfied with not closing out games and he hasnāt hidden that. Recently, he took a big shot at coach Frank Vogel for the lack of clarity and consistency in his rotations:
āYou never know when youāre coming in, you never know when youāre coming out. You never know when youāre playing, you never knowā¦ a bunch of things,āWestbrook said. āAnd Iām speaking for me personally, so itās a difficult process to be able to figure out and create some rhythm and some consistency where we can actually see what weāre able to do as a team, but those decisions are made by him and his coaching staff, and youāve got to live with it and move on.ā
Two-thirds of the season are already on the books and the Lakers donāt even know whoās closing out games. That speaks volumes of how poorly coached and led this team has been all year long, and Westbrook isnāt to blame for that.
