“They’ve got 81 more games, everyone’s talking like Russ is in a severe state of grief” - NBA analyst believes LeBron James and 8x All-Star understood that Russell Westbrook was 'fragile' and 'temperamental'

LeBron James and Anthony Davis had huge opening nights for the LA Lakers last season while Russell Westbrook looked terrible on debut. LA went 0-6 in the preseason and had several nagging issues.

While the four-time MVP and AD shrugged it off as a mere hiccup, Mr. Triple-Double didn’t give off the same kind of vibe. NBA analyst Kyle Goon, who has covered the Lakers over the past few years, recalled his thoughts after the team’s opening night loss:

“And I was like, ‘This is just the first game, they’ve got 81 more games!’ And everyone’s talking like Russ is in a severe state of grief and needs severe extreme emotional support after one bad game.

"There’s a weird dynamic here and I think LeBron and AD and that both seemed to understand that Russ was a little fragile, but maybe temperamental was a better word.”

The LA Lakers’ opponents that night were Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. LA was solid up until the fourth quarter when they unraveled. It turned out to be a precursor to many of their games as the season went on.

LeBron James finished with a game-high 34 points and 11 rebounds while Anthony Davis put up 33 and the same number of boards. Russell Westbrook, on the other hand, was out of sorts, finishing with eight points, five rebounds and four assists. He missed all four of his three-point attempts and committed four turnovers.

In a postgame interview, LeBron James jokingly informed the media that he had told Russell Westbrook “to go home and watch comedy.”

The joke turned out to be on the LA Lakers as they consistently gave up huge leads and often looked disinterested in many games. Russell Westbrook went from caring so badly to almost not caring what former head coach Frank Vogel was trying to implement.

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Russell Westbrook never managed to adjust to playing off of LeBron James

Russell Westbrook's fit was a glaring problem the LA Lakers couldn't solve last season. [Photo: Rappler]

In that loss to the Warriors, Frank Vogel emphasized in a report by ESPN that the biggest adjustment will have to come from Westbrook.

“Him more than anybody, it's going to be an adjustment period," Vogel said. “He's coming into our culture, our system, he's the new guy, he's got to find his way.

"It's difficult, when you're used to being the guy that has the ball most nights, to be able to play off others like LeBron and A.D. It's just a little bit different for him. He's going to be great for us but it's going to be an adjustment period."

The LA Lakers wanted to turn Russell Westbrook into a player he never was and it backfired. Vogel wanted him to play off the ball, something Westbrook agreed to as he wanted to make an impact without the ball in his hands.

The ball-dominant ways of “Russ” just never meshed with LeBron James. Westbrook also never turned out to be the screen setter the Lakers hoped he would become.