The Los Angeles Lakers once had a deal in place to land some shooters.
They killed that deal at the very last second to pursue Russell Westbrook instead.
Most people thought they were making a mistake, assuming that Westbrook wouldn’t be a good fit next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Russ’ first season in Los Angeles was nothing short of a disaster.
He got into fights with fans, his wife took to social media to defend him, and he was blamed for nearly every bad thing that went down with the team.
He entered his second campaign as a potential trade candidate and was eventually moved despite being one of their best players under Darvin Ham’s tutelage.
Fast forward to today, and it seems like that departure was inevitable, as multiple former players have seemingly taken shots at him since he left town.
We can now add the Lakers’ young guard Austin Reaves to that list.
Apparently, Reaves seemed to take a swipe at Westbrook while praising D’Angelo Russell, lauding the former Nets All-Star for always being in control and doesn’t make too many wild plays.
Austin Reaves on D'Angelo Russell: "He's a really good basketball player that plays the game the right way. You don't really see him too many times in the midst of a game making a wild play. He's very under control, plays at his own pace, & like I said, he's just super talented."
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) March 11, 2023
While he didn’t talk about Westbrook specifically, that wildness and careless nature with the basketball have been two of the biggest knocks on his game for years now.
ie “It makes a world of difference when your PG isn’t a masonry worker smh”
— PEM (@BigPhil619) March 11, 2023
is this a shot at russ it feels like a shot at russ 😂
— possum possum (@possum346) March 11, 2023
Russ and Clippers in 5th place Austin Reeves. Russ will be a Hall of Famer and he's welcomed on his new team no longer Lakers scapegoat.
— T Love (@TLove78279047) March 13, 2023
Kinda opposite of the previous PG who used to start for them lol
— Panda (@bigpanda08) March 11, 2023
Bro just dissed Russ 😭😭
— DepressedLakersFan (@RicoSuavee33) March 11, 2023
“Plays the game the right way” pic.twitter.com/YUEgV6Xe0Q
— Lakers Better 🏆 (@mvpbronlal) March 11, 2023
Westbrook always plays at a high pace and is one of the most turnover-prone guards in the Association, something that often hurt the Lakers during his time with the team.
So, this might’ve been a Freudian slip or an honest mistake, but it sure doesn’t seem like that.
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