JJ Redick and Bradley Beal (The Washington Wizards) discuss the play of Russell Westbrook on The Los Angeles Lakers. They also ask if he’s been unfairly scapegoated by the media.
Subscribe to The Old Man and The Three podcast w/ JJ Redick (ESPN / First Take) and Tommy Alter YouTube channel today for more NBA analysis and player interviews.
33 Comments
no matter how bad Russ played it is worse that the best acquisition they could get was Russ when they were way better fits available, if you clown Russ you gotta clown Lakers management even harder
He for sure is. Russ gets alot of disrespect yet no one wants to look at AD. For the last 2 years, AD has been soft or injured, unmotivated. AD is supposed to be the man on the team, not Bron. Russ was trying to get adjusted. All the Lakers fans talking bout " get Russ off the team" need to focus that energy at Day-to-Day Davis. He got too much disrespect last year
Lakers should trade Street Clothes honestly because since he won a ring, he's gone soft. Even KG said he needs to step up, which he should've done years ago, but he doesn't want to work on his body.
No more plumbers and firemen comments? I miss those comments..
No, he just awful. And he scapegoated his own coach on exit interview
JJ you are literally creating a narrative that him being bad was a narrative. Stop with this overly player-friendly, clearly biased analysis. Say what you truly think
The idea that Westbrook needs to handle the ball because he would rather make the mistake than his teammates is both disrespectful, in that he doesn't trust his teammates around him, and is counter to all the evidence that Westbrook will not take accountability for mistakes made when asked about them.
Scapegoat that lead the lakers in every stat but 2šš
Itās pretty funny seeing players cover for him. āRuss didnāt get worseā bro he was so bad it was hard to watch. Crowd was booing and praying he wouldnāt shoot. He was just awful
When I think about media coverage on Russ, immediately Skip n Shannon are the first anchors that come to mind. They spearheaded what felt like a complete smear campaign
I stand behind my Westbrook jersey purchase
lol none of them has a ring and will never get a ring so how could they give the opinion of him being scape goated on the lakers. he sucked plain and simple
JJ I love this podcast but you're way too pro-player. Sometimes criticism is important.
Beal said it right at the end itās because heās playing in LA. Our fans have a high standards because of the winning but also because we picked him instead of Heild or Derozen. Yeah Laker fans have high expectations and bro it wasnāt the 3ās, it was the bad defense, the TO, hitting the side of the backboard and missing layups. Russ was bad last year and heās on the team so I want him to do well and he looked great last night.
Is it to late for Russ to realize he should be at the 2. He should be catching lobs not throwing them.
Hold him accountable for playing bad is not unfairā¦ he played terrible. Russell knows that even if he might not admit. Calling him out of his name and calling him west brick and all this other stuff IS unfair. Players seem to not be able to gauge the difference because they want to protect each other which is okay, but they get Jaded sometimes between the two.
PG,Beal, KD and other all had their best season with Russ
I like how they always ignore the lowlights of Russ turning the ball over and airballing shots like he hadnāt touched a basketball in a decade
no it wasn't unfair westbrooks jumpers fly over the backboard bro cooked
The short answer is yes. The long answer no one has the nerve to point out is "Russ is only good as a ball dominant stat getter. Take the ball from him now he's pressing because he can't shoot efficiently or be effective off ball. Which means LeBron should handle it less. God forbid LeBron sacrifice his 7 assists a game to let Russ average his triple double." (waits for the "LeBron shouldn't have to change at all to fit the team he has" comments)
of course, its easier to blame the new guy instead of holding yourself accountable. Basketball is a team game, if you think one guy make you lose, question the other 4.
I don't get this comment about Russ "going hard" and being "competitive". A huge part of being competitive is improving upon your weaknesses and I am having hard time seeing if Russ ever did that in his whole NBA career. Think about it this way: when LeBron entered the NBA, he did so as a subpar three-point shooter. However, after a few seasons, LeBron improved his three-point accuracy. He's not an elite three-point shooter, but he definitely can get a bucket behind the arc if he needs to get one, especially in clutch moments. Despite Westbrook having some memorial clutch shots, he's overall abysmal as a shooter in such situations also because he makes bad decisions with his shot selection.
Also, this podcast is soft. Too pro player. What's the point of sports talk without the interesting discussions that come up from legitimate criticism?
Man get all of these bums out of LA. Destroyed the team I love. Get lebron out
Say whatever you want about Westbrook, but no teammate has ever disliked him. People say KD left because of him but KD was caught using burners saying Russ was of the only people on the team to count on. Always been a leader and is the guy at work that when youāre on the same shift as him you just unconsciously want to work harder.
This show has made me a Bradley Beal fan. Didnāt know much about him being from Atlanta
Russās effort was never questioned. His efficiency and decision making was questioned. Because he wasnāt efficient and he lost them a lot of games with his decision making.
What happens if youāre building with a crew and they ask you to dig a ditch and you stacked fifty cinderblocks instead? You get fired. Not cause you didnāt try, but because you didnāt do what youāre supposed to do.
Russ played bad last year but my problem was he was nowhere near the only issue. It was a lot of things watching them the whole year was rough. Hoping Russ turns it around. Like the vibe of this team with the new coach
18, 8, 8 on a down yearā¦not to mention the loss of AD at times and Bron playing center. Russ didnāt do well, but to blame him only for the Lakers season. Thereās no way.
I havenāt even watched and can already tell theyāre gonna defend Russ even doe as a lakers fan who watched all the games I can say heās the main reason we sucked. He doesnāt fit with bron, he turns the ball over, his efficiency is way worse, s defense is atrocious, his attitude is defiant when called out, and his contract makes it impossible to sign any other good players.
The lakers sucked collectively for reasons of bad fit
thank you Redick
Heās not THE problem, but heās a big problem.
He was scapegoated. Unfairly. Guy was on an old bad team . 3 Rd best player on a team with the 1st n 2nd best being out most the year he still managed to win some games an put up 20 7 n 7. . Stop. The guy can only do so much. Was it a good season? No. But wasn't a bad season individually by any means