His move to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA offseason sparked controversy, and his first months in LA helped little to prove the doubters wrong. Russell Westbrook has been in the eye of the storm ever since the 2021-22 NBA season got underway.
The Lakers started their campaign on the wrong foot and have struggled to turn things around. Their latest defeat on Christmas Day against the Brooklyn Nets has been their fifth loss in a row and saw them drop to 16-18.
Westbrook has been singled out practically the entire first half of the season so far and it didn't take long for him to be involved in trade rumors. But after months of receiving harsh criticism, the comments on his latest performance have been the final straw. Check out what he had to say.
Russell Westbrook believes he's been 'fine'
"Everybody wants me to do this but then they don't want me to do this," said Westbrook, as quoted by ABC Sports. "Honestly, I'm over the whole situation with what everyone else wants me to do and what they think I should be doing."
Brodie went even further, claiming that his play hasn't been bad as many suggest. "Honestly, I think I've been fine," he continued. "The conversation has been heavily on how I'm playing and what I'm doing, but I think people are expecting me to have ******* 25, 15 and 15, which, that is not normal. Everybody has to understand, like, that's not a normal thing that people do consistently.
"People are saying 'let Russ be Russ,' I think nobody understands what that means," Westbrook added. "I think people just say it -- 'let Russ be Russ' -- but nobody actually knows what that means but myself. And I'm gonna lean on that and make sure I do what I'm supposed to do. And let everything else outside the locker room, whatever that may be, take care of itself."
Harsh criticism is never fair but Brodie can't pretend his play has lived up to the expectations. However, what matters from now on is that he and his teammates get the Lakers back on track before it's too late.
