EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — While many Los Angeles Lakers players preached accountability and self-reflection over the issues that plagued their team during exit interviews on Monday, Russell Westbrook remained defiantly in denial about why things went awry.
Throughout his 21-minute post-exit-interview press conference, Westbrook doubled down on the consistent excuses he used amid a subpar season — and debuted new explanations to absolve his responsibility in constructing his Lakers experience.
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Westbrook believes one of the primary issues with his season was that his negative reputation preceded him and he was never given a “fair chance” with the organization.
“When I first got here, unfortunately, people create narratives of who I am, and what I do, and what I believe in, that just aren’t true,” Westbrook said. “I’m always having to prove myself again year after year after year, which to me is really unfair. There’s no reason for me to have to do that. So when I first got in here, I just felt that I never was given a fair chance just to be who I needed to be to help this team.”
Westbrook specifically mentioned recent media reports that detailed his disconnect with the Lakers’ coaching staff behind the scenes due to his unwillingness to accept criticism or adapt from his ball-dominant game.
“The famous ‘source’ stories that came out about myself, whether it be between me and the staff, me and Frank, me and the fans, there’s just so many made-up stories that are not true,” Westbrook said. “It’s just always having to fight against that constantly. It’s just not (being) given a fair chance.”
When asked to directly refute a report or anecdote, Westbrook declined.
“No,” Westbrook said. “I can’t. You know the examples. I don’t want to get in details, what story, who wrote it, why … it’s pointless. It really doesn’t matter because it’s not true. If it doesn’t come from me (it is not true).”
Westbrook’s criticism quickly extended to former head coach Frank Vogel, who was fired on Monday morning.
After regularly taking veiled shots at Vogel, particularly after games in which Vogel benched him during the fourth quarter, Westbrook attempted to flip the narrative and say that Vogel instead had a problem with him.
“I think it’s unfortunate, to be honest, because I’ve never had an issue with any of my coaches before,” Westbrook said. “I’m not sure what his issue was with me or I’m not sure why, but I can’t really give you an answer to why we really never connected …
“That’s something that he has to answer. But I never, from the get-go, was feeling like (we were on the same page.) I was having to try to prove myself to him and my capabilities and what I’ve been able to do for this game. And it’s unfortunate but it’s really not (my fault). It’s kind of out of my hands.”
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Multiple recent media reports contradict that notion, though.
Vogel was reportedly one of Westbrook’s lone allies, optimistically believing that he would eventually turn his play around and insisting that he remain in the starting lineup despite some in the organization pleading for Vogel to bring Westbrook off the bench to split him and James up.
The postgame comments throughout the season refute that sentiment, too.
Westbrook repeatedly criticized Vogel and the coaching staff in a passive-aggressive manner. Meanwhile, Vogel routinely defended Westbrook’s performance despite his starting point guard clanking jumpers, throwing passes out of bounds and failing to rotate or keep track of his man defensively.
Westbrook’s teammates noticed the negative trickle-down effect of the disconnect.
“You’re talking about the point guard of our team, right? That’s usually the head of the snake,” Wayne Ellington said. “He doesn’t feel like he had the best year of his career by any means, but as the point guard of the team, if he doesn’t feel comfortable on the floor, he doesn’t feel the connection within his game, that kind of trickles down as well.”
Westbrook’s grievances then moved on to his on-court dynamic with his star teammates, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
In postgame press conferences, James and Davis supported the concept of “let Russ be Russ” as the best strategy to empower Westbrook and unlock the best version of the former MVP.
But Westbrook revealed that he felt that notion was disingenuous.
“Yeah, (they said it),” Westbrook said. “But that wasn’t true. Let’s be honest.”
He also took another shot at Vogel, placing much of the blame on the star trio’s lackluster record — they were 11-10 in their 21 games together — on the way they were used offensively, while also mentioning their obvious fit issues and unfortunate health.
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“I mean, it’s a combination of where we are on the floor, positioning, fit and challenge, trial and error, being able to play on the floor with each other,” Westbrook said. “Finding ways to be able to utilize us to the best of our abilities. It’s that simple.”
Westbrook said he was “very rarely” able to feel like himself in Los Angeles.
“I embraced every change,” Westbrook said. “There wasn’t a time where I was like, ‘Oh, I’m not doing this.’ There were conversations where I may have felt like what I bring to this team and my abilities to be able to help the team win may not have been in the cards of kind of how the coaching staff wanted to play. … I was coming in with open arms. I got no reason to (refuse anything). I knew coming here I would have to make the biggest sacrifice of anyone.”
To his credit, he acknowledged that his play was below his own standards for one of the few times this season.
But he partially neutralized the impact of his commentary by shifting to a more ego-driven tone. He said that his internal scale is the only opinion he cares about — another sign he doesn’t process external feedback/criticism — and then added that his biggest gripe with his statistical production was that he didn’t hit his usual triple-double averages.
“Just my play, in general, not my best season,” Westbrook said. “Just going off my own personal scale, because that’s the only thing I go off of regardless of this season. … Obviously I’m coming off averaging a triple-double, so anything less than that would not be a good season for me in my eyes, you know what I’m saying? So that’s why the scale of where it comes from is a little bit different.”
Westbrook also acknowledged the effects of his problems with his hometown crowd, whom he discussed with a dismissive tone in the final weeks of the season after taking offense to the crowd shaming his surname by calling him “Westbrick.” The Crpyto.com Arena crowd booed Westbrook over a half-dozen times during the season, forming a hostile dynamic that he felt uncomfortable bringing his family around. His contract and underperformance made him an easy target.
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“I would probably say the only thing that was a problem or issue was with just the reception I got from people here,” Westbrook said. “For any reason, whatever that may be. Whether it’s the fans or whatever, it wasn’t so great.”
All told, Westbrook isn’t wrong. There is some truth in some of his pushback. The Lakers’ troubles aren’t binary. Westbrook has probably received too great a share of the overall blame. There are numerous factors that compounded into a disappointing 33-49 record and the West’s 11th spot.
But Westbrook’s attempt to deflect and finger-point ultimately rings hollow.
The Lakers indisputably went out of their way to accommodate their highest-paid player ($44 million), from giving him spots in the starting and closing lineups at times he didn’t deserve them, to letting him handle primary ballhandling duties, to handling him with kid gloves in critical media sessions. Vogel tweaked his defensive schemes to factor in Westbrook’s limitations.
Even Westbrook’s superstar teammates made notable adjustments. Davis slid up to center more despite his historic hesitance to better space the floor. James even played some small-ball center, and implemented more screening, rolling and cutting into his game to remain effective off the ball when Westbrook had it.
In contrast, Westbrook, who promised James and Davis last offseason that he would adjust more than either player, never expanded his skill set to become effective without the ball in his hands. He rarely screened on or off the ball, cut hard, or relocated around the perimeter.
Westbrook obviously sacrificed, to some extent, by sharing ballhandling duties with James in crunch time and pivotal moments (and sometimes even ceding them). But that’s about the bare minimum when stars are teaming up. Otherwise, he was largely the same player, with the same strengths, only decreased, and the same weaknesses, only increased. He also clearly cares more about external perception and validation than he tries to let on.
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On the whole, there is a clear cognitive dissonance between the player Westbrook is and the player he thinks he is.
He is no longer an All-Star or All-NBA player. He’s declined as a jump-shooter, finisher and defender. He was arguably the worst high-volume shooter in the league. He no longer impacts games with his energy and effort the way he used to.
His lack of gravity can suffocate his team’s offense, barring the other four players all being above-average shooters. It’s difficult for a coach to find four shooters to place around Westbrook in every lineup. His turnovers are often momentum-swinging. Defensively, he’s typically disinterested, to say the least. He didn’t box out.
The Lakers were just 20-37 in the 57 games that Westbrook appeared in with one or both of James and Davis out. If Westbrook was the Oklahoma City version of himself — or even the post-All-Star-break Houston or Washington version of himself — the Lakers’ record is probably closer to, if not above, .500 in 57 games. Most advanced metrics deem Westbrook as somewhere between an average-to-major-net-negative player.
Yet that is not how he views himself. He hasn’t accepted that he’s moved into a different phase of his Hall of Fame career. He believes he’s entitled to playing time and a role because of who he used to be. He lacks self-awareness. And he can’t properly adjust his game — and become the proverbial star in his new role — until he adjusts his perspective.
Which makes the uncertainty regarding his future so interesting.
The tone of Westbrook’s exit-interview comments opposed his rosy proclamation last week after the Lakers were eliminated from the Play-In tournament that “the plan” would be for him to exercise his $47 million player option and return to the Lakers so that he, James and Davis could try to jell again in a second season together. Westbrook spoke more like a player that was ready to move on.
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With regards to free agency and his future, Westbrook said he hasn’t “thought that far into anything.”
“I’ll make the decision,” Westbrook said. “That’s why it’s called ‘player option.'”
That decision will have a significant impact on the direction of the Lakers’ offseason.
Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, who indicated the franchise will not tolerate mediocrity next season and will aggressively pursue upgrades to the roster via trade or free agency, effusively praised Westbrook’s career accomplishments but left open the (likely) possibility that Los Angeles tries to trade him to appease him.
“Like any player, we’ll partner with him after that decision is made about what’s best for his future,” Pelinka said.
Based on Westbrook’s interpretation of his past experience with the Lakers and his present abilities, his plans appear to be finding a situation in which he can be treated like a superstar and refrain from accepting any substantive blame.
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(Photo: Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)
