“Russ had to come in here thinking ‘I’m going to be bigger than Magic Johnson ever was in Laker Nation'"- Skip Bayless believes Russell Westbrook became the perfect scapegoat for LeBron James

On the Skip Bayless show, Skip Bayless addressed the Los Angeles Lakers' situation with Russell Westbrook. He painted a picture of how Westbrook was set up to fail, describing his time with the purple and gold franchise as "horrifying." Bayless stated:

"Russ had to come in here thinking, ‘I’m going to be bigger than Magic Johnson ever was in Laker Nation. And within about a month, I believe Laker Nation was horrified by what it witnessed."

The 2022 NBA playoffs officially commenced yesterday and Russell Westbrook and the LA Lakers will be watching from the sidelines. Despite entering the season with high expectations, the Lakers had one of their worst campaigns in recent years.

Even LeBron James couldn't lead the Lakers to the playoffs this season. The four-time NBA champion performed exceptionally well, averaging 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. Unfortunately, this individual excellence didn't compensate for the team's shortcomings.

The trade for Westbrook has not gone according to plan, and that's putting it mildly, considering the guard's salary of over $40 million per year. This has been the stand of the Lakers Nation and a close ally in Skip Bayless.

Skip Bayless believes Russell Westbrook is LeBron James' perfect scapegoat

Russell Westbrook of the Los Angeles Lakers handles the ball during the first half of the NBA game at Footprint Center.

Russell Westbrook finished the season as the team's assists leader, with 7.1 assists per game. He also recorded the third-most points, field goals, free throws and rebounds for the Lakers. He also shot 44.4% from the field and 29.8% from beyond the arc.

While he wasn't a complete disaster, it was his worst statistical output since his sophomore season in 2009-10.

Bayless believes he was brought in to become LeBron James' scapegoat. He notes that a DeMar DeRozan acquisition was possible, but James went for Westbrook instead.

If the move was successful, James would have taken due credit as the guy who got the most out of Westbrook. If it didn't, he'd still be the shining star, with Westbrook as the scapegoat. Bayless stated:

"LeBron James pulled what I consider a genius move. He said, ‘Give me Russ over DeMar DeRozan.’ Because if it works, ‘I enhance my GOAT resume’ because I could say I made Russ work in ways KD couldn’t and James couldn’t and PG couldn’t and Kawhi obviously wouldn’t. And if it didn't and we know it really didn’t, LeBron, the “GOAT” says my partner Shannon Sharpe, always needs a scapegoat. What better scapegoat than Russell Westbrick."