At the beginning of the halftime display, Charles Barkley stated in passing, “I require to get a little something off my chest.” And as often, the TNT crew experienced to go to break because you know the fellas constantly operate the clock out with all the banter. When they arrived back from crack, they gave Chuck the phase and he went on to converse about how “they” have taken the pleasure out of basketball for Russell Westbrook.

“It is time for the Lakers to shift on… They have taken all his joy out of lifestyle and basketball.”
Chuck goes off on Russell Westbrook with the Lakers pic.twitter.com/ktevt7J0ns

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 19, 2022
In the 1st half of the match, Reggie Miller was conversing about how Russ averaged 18-7-7 very last time, posing the rhetorical problem, “if you seem at most of the league would you want that PG on your workforce?” The remedy was an emphatic Of course. At this position it poses the concern, what other exterior factors are at perform that could enable demonstrate why Russ is beneath such scrutiny far better yet, what could possibly have brought about Russ to have the lowest PPG considering that the next 12 months of his vocation?
Is it the force of participating in for the Showtime Lakers and getting to are living up to the greats? Is it for the reason that the ball receives operate through Lebron instead of him on offense? Is his desire in trend obtaining in the way of his working day occupation? Or does the harassment that Westbrook and his family members have endured in his struggle to in shape in with the Lakers have some thing to do with it?
I could see how all of people aspects contributed to his lackluster functionality very last period, but I imagine #LakerNation, and all basketball followers for that matter, desires to give him a opportunity to prove why he is a to start with ballot corridor of fame.
You never just generate an MVP overnight.
It usually takes plenty of several hours of perseverance to your craft. It’s extremely unlikely that Russ earns that variety of award on this form of Lakers team, but he knows what it requires to be fantastic. He’s also in his 14th calendar year in the NBA, he’s no “young buck.”
The Lakers concluded 11th overall in the NBA previous time with a report of 33-49. Russell Westbrook played 78 online games. Anthony Davis played 40 game titles and was out the relaxation owing to harm.
Could you envision attempting to obtain chemistry in your first year on a team with Lebron, when you experienced supposed on locating that chemistry with Anthony Davis? There was no prospect of the season’s match system becoming executed because of unforeseen situations, so there’s no perception in employing Frank Vogel or Russ as scapegoats. Unfortunately, Frank Vogel doesn’t have a likelihood to protect himself following obtaining let go just 1 12 months following profitable a championship for 1 of the ideal franchises of all time.
Russell Westbrook has the most triple-doubles in NBA history (194).
In Game 1 of the 2022-2023 time, Russ experienced 19 PTS, 11 REB, 3 AST. His activity may perhaps not be very at 33, but he’s always heading to give his group 110% to try and get the acquire.

Kyle Richards
I am a style and design thinker, a builder of electronic factors, and a firm believer in the electric power of sports.