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NBA and Los Angeles Lakers superstar Russell Westbrook has come under immense scrutiny for the abysmal start the Lakers are currently having to the season.
On Fox Sports' morning show Undisputed: Skip and Shannon, Shannon Sharpe piled on this criticism of Russell Westbrook and said this:
"Only one team that we think are contending team, only one wanted Russell Westbrook, the Lakers. Let that sink in. This is not a fringe player. This is an All NBA 75th anniversary team member and only one team wanted him, that should tell you."
Shannon Sharpe also used a weird analogy to talk about Russell Westbrook and his impact with the Lakers' squad. He said:
“Russ is like that pretty girl at rival school that makes you say if she was my girl, I’ll treat her like a queen and then when you get her, you realize why all the dudes left her.”
Shannon Sharpe also talked about Russell Westbrook, nicknamed Mr. Triple Double, who has convinced people that he is one of the best players in the game by averaging a triple-double. Sharpe continued:
"He's convinced us that the triple double is the end all be all, because he got a triple double. We overlooked the turnovers. He was getting 11-12 assists but he'd have 8 or 9 turnovers."
Can the Lakers win with Russell Westbrook?
That's the million-dollar question at the moment for the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James gave the Lakers explicit instructions to get Russell Westbrook instead of Buddy Hield from the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers top brass may be wondering what might have been with Hield instead of Westbrook.
Russell Westbrook is currently averaging 19.6 points, 8.1 assists and 7.9 rebounds while shooting the ball better than 45% from the field and over 30% from beyond the arc. But the most damning statistic is the 4.6 turnovers a game, which is the fourth-highest of his career.
Westbrook was never a consistent three-point shooter, so partnering him up with Anthony Davis and LeBron James was bound to cause problems for the Lakers. However, we have seen in the past how Westbrook starts the season slowly and after the half-way point of the season, he starts to perform at an MVP caliber level.
From what we have seen thus far, the Lakers are not going to win the championship with the way Russell Westbrook and co. are playing. They'll be lucky to even make it past the Western Conference First Round.
There have been rumors of Russell Westbrook possibly running the rotation while LeBron James is on the bench. King James and Westbrook have struggled to establish chemistry together while being decisive for the Lakers. The Lakers need to focus on deploying a half-court offense and try to slow the pace down with aging players, something Westbrook isn't really good at.
Either way, Russell Westbrook needs to get his game together and establish chemistry with the team. Otherwise, the Lakers are going nowhere and would be lucky to even make it to the postseason.
Guess the Lakers players!
