Russell Westbrook Can No Longer Play in the NBA

The Los Angeles Lakers are a terrible basketball team and I don’t love dogpiling on Russell Westbrook as if he is the sole contributor to the Lakers struggles. But there was a play by Westbrook in the final minute of Sunday night’s game against the Portland Trailblazers that is both hilarious and unacceptable.

here is LeBron’s reaction to Westbrook’s decision with 30 seconds lefthttps://t.co/KATe2kYAyu pic.twitter.com/0iE0dEGwef

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 23, 2022

With the Lakers up 1 and 30.2 seconds left in the game, Russell Westbrook ran the ball up in transition and chucked up a random ass midrange jumper that of course shotgunned off the rim which led to the Blazers beating them.

It was explained after the game. Westbrook was attempting a 2-for-1. You take a shot early in the shot clock to ensure that you get the final possession at the end of the game.

Makes sense.

Except, of course, you’re up and your team has a surprisingly strong defense which means it behooves you to burn as much clock as you can to set up a great shot and extend the lead and then lock down on defense for Portland’s final possession.

Westbrook’s decision is even worse when you consider, well, that it’s Russell Westbrook taking the shot.

Russell Westbrook has made 3 of 17 jump shots this season.

Also, he is the only player that has attempted a jump shot with under 30 seconds to go and 15+ seconds left on the shot clock with their team up by 1 possession in the last 4 seasons. pic.twitter.com/DrH8UEs2L9

— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) October 24, 2022

Not only was it a terrible decision to try a go for a 2-for-1 with the fucking lead but Westbrook is the LAST guy on that team who should be taking the jumper. Especially when there is no opportunity for grabbing an offensive rebound because half of the team is still in the backcourt pissed at you for taking the shot.

My guy just came off a game against the Clipper in which he went 0-for-11 and still only sees the green light to keep shot-putting basketballs at the backboard with no chance of going in.

And that’s how you know Westbrook can no longer exist in the NBA. In that same Clippers game, Kawhi Leonard—a Finals MVP and one of the best basketball players on planet Earth—came off the bench with no gripes yet when Westbrook came off the bench for a meaningless preseason game, he claimed it tweaked his hamstring because he wasn’t able to do his typical pre-game ritual or whatever.

His rigidness and overall inability to recognize that he’s no longer the MVP candidate he was in Oklahoma City and he should be in Derrick Rose’s role with the Knicks. Just coming off the bench and being a veteran leader who understands that some nights he’ll score 18 points and some nights he’ll score 2 but his individual talent can no longer drag a team to victory.

Perhaps it’s the fact he’s still making $47 million this season so he’s convinced himself he needs to earn his salary but his attempts to prove he’s worth the direct deposits he receives from the Lakers are killing the Lakers.

If you can’t shoot then why are taking double-digit shot attempts every game? I truly believe this is Westbrook’s final season in the NBA now that his contract is finally coming to an end so we may be witnessing one of the greatest and funniest seasons ever. He is going to continue to play hero ball in a desperate attempt to trick an NBA front office into allowing him to continue his career.

Instead, he should probably embrace his role as a leader off the bench but we’ve been saying that for years now and that doesn’t appear to be on his to-do list so let’s all enjoy this season full of the worst decision-making and loud-as-hell bricks. We non-Lakers fans deserve this comedy.