It wasn’t the L.A. Lakers’ season, and it wasn’t Russell Westbrook’s either. What was the problem? The coach, perhaps? There were now clear words from “Russ” to his ex-coach.
After a miserable season including missing the play-offs, the Lakers parted ways with coach Frank Vogel. At least if Westbrook has his way, it wasn’t necessarily the wrong decision. “I think it’s unfortunate, to be honest, because I never had any problems with any coach before,” the Lakers’ No. 0 said, then kicked back at his ex-coach: “I don’t know what his problem was with me or why we never bonded.”
In the summer, Westbrook came to Los Angeles from Washington and was supposed to form a new Big Three together with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But it never came to that. On the one hand, of course, this was due to the injuries to “AD” and the “King”, because they were unable to play together. On the other hand, it is also true that Westbrook was not able to continue his performances of the last few years and played a weak season.
All in all, this led to failure and even super gloom, because reaching the play-offs was, of course, safely calculated in. If Westbrook has his way, he never really got a chance with the California franchise. “When I came here in the summer, I didn’t really get the opportunities to do what I’m capable of doing for a team or an organisation. There wasn’t a fair chance,” the 33-year-old said.
Rumours nag Westbrook
Also, Westbrook cleared upstories that have been going on and on about him. “The famous stories that came up from any ‘sources’, whether it was about my relationship with the staff, or with Frank, or with the fans – they were all created and just not true,” “Russ” clarified. “I had to fight it all the time.”
When asked to detail such a story, the set-up man would not say. “No, I can’t. You know the examples. I don’t want to reveal details of which story or who wrote it and why. There is no point in that. It doesn’t matter either because it’s just not true. “
player option of 47 million
It all somehow doesn’t sound like Westbrook’s relationship with the Lakers is going to be a love affair just yet. Where it goes from here is largely up to the game, as the No. 0 pick has a $47 million player option for next season. It’s hard to imagine a club paying that much for the impact player on the open market. “I’m going to make a decision, that’s why it’s called a player option,” Westbrook doesn’t want to let his cards show yet.
