"He went in choosing violence; He set the place on fire before he walked out" - Chris Haynes believes Russell Westbrook has burnt all bridges with LA Lakers

Heading into the 2021-22 NBA season, Russell Westbrook couldn't hide his excitement of finally going home and playing for the LA Lakers. Despite the obvious fitness concerns, numerous fans bought into the idea that Mr. Triple-Double, LeBron James and Anthony Davis would somehow figure it out.

Halfway into the season, however, Westbrook was already butting heads with the media and fans. By the time Westbrook did his exit interview, it became apparent that he also had issues with Frank Vogel and even LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Senior NBA Insider Chris Haynes, on an episode of the Dan Patrick Show, weighed in on "Brodie's" defiant comments before he left for the offseason:

“He [Westbrook] went in choosing violence. He set the place on fire before he walked out…He went in there with an agenda that I’m setting the place on fire and I’m walking away…I can’t see a scenario where he’s brought back… Look, we didn't think Russ was coming back even before that exit interview. Now that he lit the place on fire? Come on, now! I just don’t see it happening.”

Russell Westbrook is expected to opt-in with his contract next season for the LA Lakers, who will pay him $47 million. Like this season, he will be the highest-paid player wearing the purple and gold uniform when the next campaign starts.

If the LA Lakers will push “Russ” out the door, they will have to bite the bullet and take the loss. Going the trade route would mean eating up someone’s bad contract and likely attaching another draft pick for the exchange to happen.

The last option will be for the Lakers to waive Westbrook and stretch his colossal $47 million salary to three years. Doing the Luol Deng song and dance number will mean that “Brodie” will be playing for another team while the Lakers continue to pay his mind-boggling salary.

If Chris Haynes is right, the Lakers may take years to recover from their mind-numbing decision to trade for Russell Westbrook.

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Russell Westbrook blamed former head coach Frank Vogel for his disastrous season

Russell Westbrook and Frank Vogel during the former's introduction as the latest LA Lakers superstar. [Photo: Fadeaway World]

Russell Westbrook squarely blamed Frank Vogel for his well-chronicled failures. The superstar guard stressed that he never understood Vogel's “issues” with him.

Westbrook even added that he never had any problems with any of his previous coaches until running into the Lakers’ former bench tactician. Westbrook lamented his lack of opportunities to be the player that he was supposed to be:

“ I was never given a fair chance to be who I needed to be to better help this team.”

The strange thing about Westbrook’s words was that he played the most games and minutes out of every Laker on the roster. He was also given the keys of the offense until his erratic decisions and shooting efficiency cost him the primary playmaker role.

If the Lakers do retain Westbrook, it will be interesting to see how he proceeds after the contentious exit interview that highlighted his horrible campaign.